Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday attended a ceremony in Islamabad in connection with the Roshan Digital Account (RDA) initiative, where he lauded the $ 500 million milestone made in remittances through the use of the platform.
The Roshan Digital Account is an initiative of the Government of Pakistan and is headed by the State Bank of Pakistan. The project works in collaboration with commercial banks across Pakistan, and aims to “provide innovative banking solutions for millions of Non-Resident Pakistanis (NRPs) seeking to undertake banking, payment, and investment activities in Pakistan.”
Through the RDA initiative, Pakistan recently recorded $ 500 million in remittances.
Speaking at the occasion today, Prime Minister Imran Khan lauded the achievement and urged the State Bank of Pakistan to come up with more innovative ways to increase the number of accounts.
“Overseas Pakistanis are the biggest asset, and there is an immense potential to tap in this regard,” he said.
He added that he had been advocating for realising this potential for the past 20 years, and said there is a lot of room to further encourage overseas Pakistanis to set up Roshan Digital Account.
He said there is a need to generate focused advertisements to promote the initiative.
“The further we progress from the achieved milestone of 80,000 accounts, the better,” he stressed.
Prime Minister Imran Khan said that the present government has made record repayments of $ 20 billion in foreign loans over the last two and a half years. He also expressed his satisfaction over the record increase in the country’s exports at a time when the economies around the world were badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
He added that Pakistan’s exports have increased more than its competitors, including India and Bangladesh. The country’s textile sector is also witnessing a boom, he said.
The premier also urged banks to pay attention to making the Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme a success, and said that small and medium industries in Pakistan are in need of upliftment.
“The elites have all facilities, but the masses have been suffering for so long,” he said. He said that the concerns of Pakistani citizens need to addressed at the grassroots level.
The Prime Minister added that his government was working to provide affordable housing to the salaried and working classes of Pakistan, and this was an area neglected by all past governments.
