Minister of State for Finance Bilal Azhar Kiyani announced on Thursday that 99.5 per cent of the discontinued bearer prize bonds have already been redeemed, and the government may consider offering relief for the remaining 0.5 per cent if a substantial number of genuine applications are submitted.
He was responding to a question raised by MNA Aliya Kamran in the National Assembly. Kiyani explained that the decision to withdraw bearer prize bonds of Rs40,000, Rs25,000, Rs15,000 and Rs7,500 was taken between 2019 and 2021.
This move was part of Pakistan’s efforts to meet the requirements set by the Financial Action Task Force.
He mentioned that for each type of bond, investors were initially given a six-month window to either cash in or convert their bonds.
Later, multiple extensions were provided. In some cases, the deadlines were extended up to nine times, with the final date set to expire in December 2024.
Kiyani said that bondholders were given three options: to convert their bearer bonds into registered premium bonds, to invest the amount in national savings schemes, or to get the money transferred into their bank accounts.
He noted that due to widespread awareness campaigns, a total of Rs738.5 billion out of Rs742 billion had already been redeemed.
Only Rs3.5 billion worth of bonds remain unclaimed, which is approximately 0.5 per cent of the total. “Even after five years and multiple deadline extensions, a negligible portion remains outstanding,” he pointed out.
He added that if the authorities receive a meaningful number of verifiable applications, the government might consider taking suitable action.
Addressing the concern raised by Aliya Kamran about overseas Pakistanis and others who missed the deadline due to special circumstances, Kiyani said that the government is willing to assess such cases based on merit.
During the discussion, Aliya Kamran emphasized that many overseas Pakistanis had prize bonds kept in personal luggage or lockers and missed the redemption period unintentionally.
She appealed to the minister to consider offering special relief to such individuals as a gesture of goodwill and financial inclusion.