By Muhammad Soban

ISLAMABAD, Aug 17, (INP-WealthPK): The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has planned to provide more services to overseas Pakistanis under Roshan Digital Account (RDA) after the overwhelming success of the scheme, WealthPK reports.

Roshan Digital Account, initiated by SBP in 2020, became popular within a short span of time among overseas Pakistanis. With the assistance of commercial banks operating in Pakistan, SBP is providing innovative banking solutions to non-resident Pakistanis, including holders of Non-Resident Pakistan Origin Cards (POCs), seeking banking, payment and investment services in the country.

“SBP wants to introduce insurance products, pension plans and services for non-resident Pakistanis, who have more than 50 percent ownership of local entities, to open their accounts in both local as well as foreign currencies,” Ali Raza Syed, Senior Joint Director of Digital Innovation and Settlement Department at SBP told WealthPK.

Till June 2022, about 429,364 overseas Pakistanis living in 175 different countries opened their accounts through RDA. Within 23 months after the launch of the scheme, cumulative inflows of money to the country reached $4.8 billion, according to the statistics of SBP.

Ali Raza said that 60 to 65 percent of the total money landed in RDA was invested in the Naya Pakistan Certificate, an important investment avenue of the scheme. He said that integrating RDA with Pakistan Stock Exchange helped overseas investors to invest in the stock market. Currently, $40 million has been invested in different stocks through RDA.

He said that SBP helped overseas Pakistanis to invest in the real estate sector by linking RDA with major real estate players. Car financing has also been a successful product of RDA. About 1,550 cars were delivered under the Roshan Apni Car Scheme. Around Rs800 billion has been approved for financing under the scheme.

Ali Raza said that SBP was working to improve its services under RDA. A platform called "Sunwai" has been launched to sort out the complaints of overseas. The central bank has made the commercial banks bound to resolve the complaints within three days.

“The SBP has completed the first phase of RDA and now it is moving towards the second phase. SPB has been trying to provide facilities to non-resident Pakistanis. In this regard, SBP conducts regular surveys to get feedback from the RDA users and improve the scheme,” he told WealthPK.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk