Inward daily remittances from overseas Pakistanis into Roshan Digital Accounts (RDA) rose to $7.7 million on Wednesday, which is the highest ever daily amount, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) announced through its Twitter account on Thursday.
SBP wrote, “To date, total inward remittances into RDA have reached $139.4 million, with $81 million invested in Naya Pakistan Certificates (NPCs).”
1/2 Yesterday, inward remittances from overseas Pakistanis into #RoshanDigitalAccount rose to $7.7 million, their highest ever daily amount. To date, total inward remittances into RDA have reached $139.4 million, with $81 million invested in Naya Pakistan Certificates.
— SBP (@StateBank_Pak) December 10, 2020
RDA was introduced by the central bank and inaugurated by Prime Minister Imran Khan in September this year. According to SBP, $24 million were received in remittances within the first month of being operational. By October, there were already 21,000 RDAs, and the number of accounts and remittances are increasing by the day.
Roshan Digital Accounts are aimed at providing innovative banking solutions for millions of non-resident Pakistanis (NRPs) seeking to undertake fund transfers, bill payments, and investment activities in Pakistan.
RDA accounts are being offered by eight banks in Pakistan to overseas Pakistanis with the services to open and operate the account easily with various options to transfer remittances to Pakistan besides different investment opportunities, including Naya Pakistan Certificates and Pakistan Stock Exchange.
The initiative of the digital account has received an overwhelming response from overseas Pakistanis since its inception. The inflows of foreign exchange through this account also helps to maintain the reserves of the country along with the value of the Rupee against the Dollar.
Opening the Roshan Digital Account requires only a basic set of information and documents, and banks are instructed to open these accounts within 48 hours once all documentation is received. Non-Resident Pakistanis can choose to open these accounts in either foreign currency or Pakistan Rupee dominated accounts or both. Funds in these accounts will be fully repatriable, without the need for any regulatory approval.
Naya Pakistan Certificates (NPCs), on the other hand, is an initiative by the Ministry of Finance and administered by the SBP. They can only be purchased through RDAs. They are offered to both, the overseas Pakistanis and the resident Pakistanis with assets held abroad. These certificates are available both in conventional and Shariah-compliant versions and are available in US Dollar and Pakistani Rupee denominations as well.
Let them not take the credit. Actually it was FATF which forced them to start account for overseas Pakistanis to keep a check and stop Hundi and money laundering otherwise overseas Pakistanis could not open a bank account even after visiting the branch.
How many Pakistanis living in Pakistan can open account easily?
Yes..Farooq/Standard Chartered Bank..made it very difficult for us to..Open US$/Accounts..now ..I have to try again
I’m talking about State Bank of Pakistan and the government. They look towards overseas Pakistanis for remittances but do not even let them open a fully functional bank account if you walk to any branch. Current government is taking the credit for this half functional bank account called roshen Pakistan account but this was after pressure from FATF.