SBP Governor Requests Banks To Contribute Generously To Edhi Foundation
State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Ashraf Mahmood Wathra urged bank CEOs to set aside more funds for their corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities.
Speaking at a condolence gathering to pay homage to social worker Abdul Sattar Edhi at the SBP headquarters, Wathra said banks should donate generously to the foundation set up by the late humanitarian.
“He did not believe in discrimination on the basis of race, religion and skin colour. He helped everyone,” Wathra said, adding that Edhi refrained from holding fancy fundraisers and avoided personal publicity.
Corporate sector entities devote some funds out of their pre-tax profits to CSR activities every year. According to the latest annual report released by the Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy, total donations by public limited companies increased from Rs 0.2 billion in 2000 to Rs 4.8 billion in 2013. A year-on-year increase of 30% in total profit-before-tax had yielded 18% increase in philanthropy in 2013, it added.
Top 25 giving companies donated 0.9% of their collective profit-before-tax in 2013 as opposed to 0.8% in the preceding year, it said.
Usually, corporate entities prefer to set up their own charitable organisations instead of funding independent NGOs like Edhi Foundation. According to the PCP, 85% of public limited companies preferred their own entities to manage their philanthropic/CSR activities while the rest chose to work in partnership with NGOs.
Speaking on the occasion, Faisal said Edhi Foundation needed funds to buy 100 ambulances. “We have ample funds to buy small, regular ambulances. But we need bigger ones to deal with a natural calamity like earthquakes or floods,” he said.
Faisal also announced the launch of his Bheek Mohim aimed at collecting Rupee 1 from each ordinary citizen. He requested bank CEOs present on the occasion to give “a good interest rate” on deposits of Edhi Foundation.
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