Dr. Reza Baqir, Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, thanked the Pakistani diaspora in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) for their unwavering support for the State Bank’s Roshan Digital Account project.
According to him, the Roshan Digital Account (RDA) has been a huge success among the Pakistani community in Saudi Arabia, which has established the most RDA accounts and sent the second-largest amount of deposits out of the 175 countries where Overseas Pakistanis have participated in RDA. He was addressing a recent interactive session held by the Pakistani Embassy in Riyadh called “Roshan Digital Account — an initiative of the State Bank of Pakistan.”
A huge number of Pakistanis living in the Kingdom, as well as representatives from several KSA-based Pakistani organisations, top State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) management, and officials from the Embassy of Pakistan, attended the event.
Dr. Reza Baqir told the audience that 345,570 Roshan Digital Accounts had been established by Overseas Pakistanis since the scheme’s start last September, with $3.44 billion placed into them.
He also gave the audience an overview of the country’s economic strengths. He emphasised three points in particular that should give Overseas Pakistanis confidence in Pakistan’s economic prospects: first, the successful containment of multiple waves of the Covid pandemic; second, the preservation of Pakistan’s macroeconomic fundamentals through the Covid shock, including a reduction in the public debt to GDP ratio and a more than doubling of the country’s foreign exchange reserves; and third, the economy during Covid.
Dr. Baqir described Covid as the world’s worst disaster since World War II, pointing out that Pakistan, with its high population density and underdeveloped health-care infrastructure, might have been particularly hard hit by the epidemic. He praised the government’s professional response, particularly NCOC’s, in containing the various waves of the Covid epidemic with far fewer human deaths than in other nations. He emphasised the crucial role played by the Ehsaas cash transfer programme, which has received international recognition for its exceptional coverage of the world’s most impoverished people.
He emphasised the SBP’s involvement in assisting the economy in dealing with the aftermath of the worldwide disaster, saying that a number of unprecedented initiatives were pushed out in record speed, giving relief to people and businesses equivalent to about 5% of GDP during Covid. As a result, Pakistan’s economy has continued to shrink.
When it came to the economy, he described inflation and managing the current account deficit as two major challenges, but he expressed confidence that the country would bravely face them in the future as a result of the government’s and the State Bank of Pakistan’s forceful and timely actions to moderate domestic demand in recent months.
Earlier this year, Arshad Mehmood Bhatti, Executive Director of the State Bank of Pakistan’s Banking Policy and Regulation Group, gave a detailed presentation on the Roshan Digital Account and its associated commodities, including Naya Pakistan Certificates, Roshan Apni Car, and Roshan Samaaji Khidmat. He emphasised RDA’s newest product, Roshan Apna Ghar, which allows Overseas Pakistanis to own property in Pakistan using bank financing or their own funds in a very simple manner.
The RDA grabbed the interest of Pakistani residents in the Kingdom, who actively engaged in the session.
Arshad Mehmood Bhatti, Executive Director of the State Bank of Pakistan’s Banking Policy and Regulation Group, presented a thorough presentation on the Roshan Digital Account and its linked goods, including Naya Pakistan Certificates, Roshan Apni Car, and Roshan Samaaji Khidmat, earlier. He emphasised RDA’s newest product, Roshan Apna Ghar, which enables Overseas Pakistanis with a very straightforward way to acquire property in Pakistan using bank financing or their own finances.
The RDA piqued the interest of members of the Kingdom’s Pakistani population, who actively participated in the session.
