The remittances received through the Roshan Digital Account (RDA) increased to $7.576 billion at the end of December 2022 from $5.436 billion at the end of November, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said. The remittance inflows were $140 million in December, down from $141 million in November and $146 million in October 2022, according to the SBP’s statistics.

The SBP, in conjunction with local commercial banks, introduced the RDA in the country in September 2020. Millions of non-resident Pakistanis, including holders of the non-resident Pakistan Origin Card, can use these accounts to conduct banking, payment, and investing activities in Pakistan, thanks to their cutting-edge financial solutions. The number of accounts registered under the programme increased by 12,225 from 498,934 accounts in November 2022 to 611,159 accounts in December 2022.

According to the SBP, only $7 million was deposited in the first month of the scheme, which began in September 2020. However, the interest rate continued to rise over time, and deposits eventually reached $40 million in October 2020 and $110 million the following month. Overseas Pakistanis invested $1.77 billion in conventional banking and $1.72 billion in Islamic banking in Naya Pakistan Certificates, the SBP said. Similar to this, by the end of November 2022, $47 million had been invested in the stock market as opposed to $43 million.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk