The State Bank of Pakistan has discontinued two remittance incentive schemes: the reward points system under the Sohni Dharti Remittance Programme and the Telegraphic Transfer (TT) Charges Incentive Scheme, which had been paying banks a per-transaction fee for processing overseas inflows through formal channels. Banks will be required to continue offering free transfers to end users despite the removal of the incentive payments, according to the SBP directive reported by Pakistani news outlets.
The discontinuation of the schemes reflects the SBP’s assessment that Pakistan’s remittance inflows have reached a scale where financial inducements to the banking system are no longer necessary to sustain volume through formal channels. Cumulative remittances for FY2026 reached $38.1 billion in the first eleven months of the fiscal year, with the May 2026 figure of $4.3 billion setting a monthly record (Arab News). Full-year inflows are projected to exceed $41 billion when June figures are confirmed — the highest in Pakistan’s history.
The Sohni Dharti scheme was introduced during the COVID-19 period as part of a broader push to channel diaspora remittances through formal banking systems rather than the informal hawala network, which does not generate foreign exchange earnings for the country’s reserves. The TT charges incentive supplemented that effort by reducing the cost for banks of processing international transfers.
Both schemes had a fiscal cost. Winding them down while maintaining zero transfer charges for customers preserves the consumer benefit that helped formalise flows in the first place, without ongoing expense to the SBP. The $41 billion figure represents roughly 9 percent of Pakistan’s GDP and is now a larger source of foreign exchange than all goods exports combined — making the remittance channel one of the most structurally important pillars of Pakistan’s external account.
