By Muhammad Soban ISLAMABAD, Feb 02 (INP-WealthPK): Thanks to the government’s efforts to streamline its functions the Pakistan Post has jumped to 62nd place in the world postal services ranking, improving its ranking by five positions upward in the world's best postal services provider list. According to the Universal Postal Union (UPU), the Pakistan Post has improved its ranking by 32 places in the last three years. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Pakistan Post earned a record Rs14 billion revenues during the fiscal year 2018-19, a 38% growth from the previous year, thus enabling it to reduce its deficit by 13%, according to an audit report on Pakistan Post Office Department (PPOD) issued by the Auditor General of Pakistan. Being a premier state-owned enterprise, Pakistan Post provides a variety of services through its network of 13,419 branches spread across Pakistan, employing 49,502 people. The PPOD services are categorised into two parts, postal services and financial services. The primary objective of the department is the delivery of mail and payment of money orders. It provides its services at very economical rates compared to the private courier companies. Along with postal services, it also provides a variety of financial services: works as a postal savings bank, receives remittances, utility bills, provides life insurance and agency services, and pays pensions. About 85% of the post offices are located in rural and far-flung areas of the country. According to the State Bank of Pakistan, Pakistan Post can play a prominent role in enhancing financial inclusion in the country as its potential in this respect has largely remained untapped. Many countries have used their network infrastructure of the post office to promote financial inclusion. The Pakistan Post, through promoting financial inclusion, can play a vital role in the country’s economic development as it has certain advantages over the conventional financial institutions in terms of affordability, penetration, trust and practicality. The structure of Pakistan Post is designed as a non-profit organisation and its mission is to provide services to the vast majority of people at a subsidised rate as against the service-for-profit objective of the conventional financial institutions. Postal saving bank is a cheaper way of mobilising savings in developing countries like Pakistan. Financial inclusion through post offices allows people, who are cut off from formal financial services, to gain access, either through direct provision of financial services or by utilising a postal channel that connects with partner financial institutions. The outreach of Pakistan Post for financial inclusion is critically important as its physical branch infrastructure consists of around 2,400 delivery post offices. In collaboration with the microfinance industry, the Pakistan Post can play a significant role in alleviating poverty in the backward areas of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. According to the World Bank’s Findex Database Survey, lower penetration of bank branches creates a trust barrier of owning a bank account, and the Pakistan Post has the inherent edge of trust in attracting non-banked individuals and enterprises. The Covid-19 pandemic has allowed Pakistan Post to provide a solution for recurring payments. From March 2020 onwards, it started a programme to disburse pensions at the doorsteps of former government employees to discourage gatherings at the post offices. The government can achieve the goal of mass-scale financial inclusion by digitising the widespread network of Pakistan Post. It will turn it into a profitable entity.