ISLAMABAD May 17, 2023: Minister of state for finance Dr Aisha Ghaus Pasha said on Wednesday the government would never legalise cryptocurrency in the country.
A meeting of the Senate’s standing committee on finance was told that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the ministry of information and technology had started work on banning the cryptocurrency to discourage its usage.
Ms Pasha said the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) had also ‘recommended’ imposing a ban on the currency.
On the other hand, SBP officials said the global cryptocurrency market had shrunk from US$2.8 to US$1.2 adding that it was a high-risk currency involving higher degree of fraud. “Pakistan will never allow its usage,” officials added.
Senator Saleem Mandvivala said Pakistan had invested billions of dollars in the crypto market.
The SBP went on to say that the FIA had been investigating the Pakistani investment into the currency adding that as many as 16,000 cryptocurrencies had erupted in the country