Pakistan, Iran to Expand Banking Ties

Date: 24 May 2023 - 23:26

News ID: ۱۱۵۴۱۵

TEHRAN – Governor of Central Bank of Iran Muhammad Reza Farzin and his Pakistani counterpart Jameel Ahmed met on Wednesday and braced for enhancing and expanding the two countries’ banking relations within the framework of capacities of the Asian Clearing Union (ACU).
Farzin called for the interaction of the central banks of the member states in the field of applying a non-SWIFT financial messaging system, connecting the banking payment cards between Iran and Pakistan and also setting up a joint committee to follow up on banking agreements.
He expressed hope that Iran and Pakistan would expand their banking cooperation.
Stressing the clearing of accounts using the high capacity of the Union, the new periodical chief of the Asian Clearing Union called for launching a banking channel with neighboring Pakistan in this field and noted, “Talks have been made with Pakistani banks in relevant field and they have welcomed the issue of launching a banking channel between Iran and Pakistan.”
Elsewhere in his remarks, the CBI governor placed special emphasis on the significance of application of a non-SWIFT financial messaging system in interbank relations and added that the financial messaging created by Iran could replace SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) and help the exchange of financial-banking messages between the two countries.
Turning to the membership of Iran and Pakistan in joint international banking institutions including the Asian Clearing Union (ACU), Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), World Bank (WB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF), Iran’s top banker called for evermore development of relations of banks of the two countries and formation of a joint working group.
The governor of the Central Bank of Pakistan, for his part, welcomed the development of banking relations between the two countries through the establishment of a non-SWIFT messaging system.
The 51st Asian Clearing Union meeting was inaugurated in Tehran on Wednesday with a focus on the issue of de-dollarization and reducing the dependency of member states on dominant currencies.