Roshan Digital Accounts set to pave way for sustainable growth

Pakistan pins high hopes on the successful Roshan Digital Account scheme to achieve financial stability that will pave the way for sustainable long-term economic growth, says a top official.

State Bank of Pakistan, the central bank governor, Dr Reza Baqir said the country has received more than $1.1 billion foreign exchange inflows through 133,000 digital accounts opened by overseas Pakistanis across 170 countries worldwide since the scheme was introduced in last September.

“Overseas Pakistanis have made the Roshan Digital Account (RDA) a big success and we will soon introduce more products in the scheme to facilitate around nine million Pakistani diaspora across the world,” Dr Baqir said at a special event hosted by Pakistan Business Council, Dubai, at Capital Club DIFC on Tuesday.

The central bank governor, who left the International Monetary Fund in 2019, paid rich tribute to non-resident Pakistanis especially in Saudi Arabia and the UAE for remitting record money through official channels and said the RDA scheme is to acknowledge their contributions to the country and also to award them some investment opportunities through Naya Pakistan Certificate and stock market.

“We have recently added two new products — the Roshan Apni Car scheme and Roshan Samaji Khidmat — to RDA programme. Some other products including an investment option in Pakistani real estate market will soon be introduced,” he said.

Dr Baqir said under the Roshan Apni Car scheme, overseas Pakistanis would be one click away from digitally purchasing a car for their families and friends in Pakistan on reduced mark-up and delivery time. Similarly, Roshan Samaji Khidmat offers a simplified mode to non-resident Pakistanis to send donations to Pakistan, including to its flagship Ehsaas socio-welfare project.

“We are transforming the financial system of the country to facilitate the common man. The RDA has a huge growth potential in future if we go through the statistics as only 133,000 accounts are opened under the scheme against targeting nine million Pakistani diaspora around the world,” the governor said.

“Overseas Pakistanis in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, UK and the US are top four contributors to RDA success and we are confident of tapping more accounts in months to come. This is just the beginning of a new era,” Dr Baqir said.