The government has increased the rates of return for various currencies-denominated Naya Pakistan Certificates (NPCs) over different maturities for the resident Pakistanis who have a foreign currency Roshan Digital Account (RDA), WealthPK reported. According to a notification issued by the Finance Division, the rate of return for US dollar-denominated NPCs with a maturity of three months has been revised up from the previous 5.5% to 7%, while those with a maturity period of six months has been raised from 6% to 7.20%.

The rate of return for a period of one year has been increased from 6.5% to 7.5%, while that for a period of three years and five years has been increased to 8%. The previous rate of return was 6.75% and 7%, respectively. The government has made no or very minor changes to the rates of return for PKR-denominated NPCs. Similarly, the new rates for GBP-denominated NPCs have been revised up to 5.5% for a maturity period of three months, 6% for six months, 7% for one year, and 7.5% each for a period of three and five years.

For euro-denominated NPCs, the government has increased the rates of returns to 4% for a maturity period of three months, 4.5% for six months, 5% for one year, and 6.5% each for a period of three and five years. The minimum investment for a foreign currency account is 1,000 in numbers, and for PKR, the minimum investment condition is Rs10,000.

Since the launch of NPCs in 2020, total inflows stand at $1.77 billion under conventional and $1.72 billion under Islamic banking. The inflow of remittances under the RDA rose to $7.576 billion by the end of December 2022 compared to $5.436 billion by November end, according to the latest data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). The inflows of remittances during December 2022 were recorded at $140 million compared to $141 million during November 2022 and $146 million in October 2022.

The RDA was launched by the SBP in collaboration with commercial banks operating in the country. These accounts provide innovative banking solutions to millions of non-resident Pakistanis (NRPs), including non-resident Pakistan-origin card (POC) holders seeking to undertake banking, payment, and investment activities in Pakistan. The number of accounts registered under the programme rose by 12,225 to 511,159 in December 2022 from 498,934 in November 2022.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk