KARACHI, March 9: President Gen Pervez Musharraf on Saturday asked commercial bankers to take steps to make utility bills' collection customer-friendly and remove the grievances of the general public in this regard.

He was speaking at a meeting with the chiefs of commercial banks at the State Bank of Pakistan.

The bankers told him that the collection fee of Rs3 per utility bill was too low for the banks whose actual expense on bills collection amounted to Rs 6-7 per bill.

Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz said he would soon hold a joint session of banks and utility companies to work out the modalities of how the system of bills collection could be improved.

Visits dealing room: The president also paid a visit to SBP’s exchange & debt management department and the dealing room where the department’s advisor Zafar M. Shaikh briefed him on reserve management.

The president was informed that the foreign exchange reserves of the country had crossed the $5 billion mark mainly due to “prudent and pro-active” reserve management by the SBP.

He was also told that huge inflow of foreign exchange had strengthened the rupee, so much so that the SBP was holding the dollar firm by mopping up excess inflows to keep the exchange rate stable and save the exporters from booking exchange rate losses.

When the president visited the dealing room computer screens were showing the dollar trading below Rs60 in the inter-bank market.

The president was informed that the dollar had fallen drastically on a sizable inflow of foreign direct investment.

PRIORITY AREAS: The president also held a meeting with heads of departments and senior officials of the State Bank.

It was during this meeting as well as during the briefing that he received from SBP chief that the president urged the State Bank to continue its efforts to persuade banks to focus more on the priority sectors of the economy — information technology, small- and medium-sized enterprises and agriculture.

Later, during his meeting with heads of banks the president again raised this issue and urged the bankers to ensure that these areas of the economy got enough credit to flourish and to play their role in revitalising the economy.

NAB FEAR: During his meeting with the heads of commercial banks the president categorically told them that the actions being taken by National Accountability Bureau should not stop them from disbursing loans efficiently.

Sources privy to the meeting said Gen Musharraf asked bankers not to hesitate in sanctioning and disbursing loans fearing action by NAB. He told them that a slackening in loan disbursement for fear of NAB can hamper the desired growth of the private sector and delay the process of revitalisation of economy.

LENDING RATE: In his meetings with both the central bankers as well as heads of commercial banks the president lauded the effort the SBP had put in to create an environment for the banks to cut their lending rates.

Sources privy to these meetings quoted him as saying that now the banks should also respond positively and make cheaper loans available to the private sector.

CBR RESTRUCTURING: The president told the bankers that the ongoing restructuring and remodelling of Central Board of Revenue would be completed by next year, adding that it would help overcome the problems people currently face at the hands of tax-gatherers.

The list of the banks whose heads were present at the meeting included (i) National Bank (ii) Habib Bank (iii) United Bank (iv) Muslim Commercial Bank (vi) Allied Bank (vii) Askari Bank (viii) Faysal Bank (ix) Metropolitan Bank (x) Citibank (xi) Standard Chartered Grindlays and (xii) Abn Amro bank.