Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has directed the immediate appointment of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the digital payment platform RAAST by September, as part of the government’s push toward a cashless and transparent economic system.
Chairing the weekly meeting on the digital and cashless economy, the Prime Minister emphasized that the digitization of government-to-public and public-to-government payment systems would bring both transparency and convenience to citizens.
The Prime Minister instructed that experts in finance and business be included in the RAAST board to ensure informed decision-making. He also directed that all state-owned enterprises (SOEs) be integrated into the digital payments ecosystem.
Stressing the need to accelerate the digital economy agenda, Shehbaz Sharif said that the government’s top priority is to eliminate inefficiencies by introducing transparent digital financial systems across the board, especially for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
During the briefing, it was revealed that a public awareness campaign on RAAST and digital payments will be launched nationwide next month. The number of mobile banking and digital app users is targeted to increase from 95 million to 120 million, while digital payments are projected to grow from Rs 7.5 billion to Rs. 15 billion.
The government has already issued a job advertisement for the appointment of RAAST’s Chief Executive Officer, signaling the urgency of institutionalizing digital payments infrastructure.
Efforts to strengthen the digital ecosystem also include removing import duties on digital payment devices, launching a Digital Payments Index within a month, and establishing public Wi-Fi and e-libraries in Islamabad by December 2025. The State Bank of Pakistan has issued directives to federal and provincial governments, as well as regulators, to adopt QR codes as a key method of payment.
The target is to increase the number of commercial payment points using QR codes and digital tools from 500,000 to 2 million.
The federal government has completed mapping all inter-departmental and inter-government payments and is now consulting stakeholders to transition these transactions entirely to digital platforms. In the first phase, salaries, pensions, and payments to contractors will be fully digitized.
The Islamabad City App has already been integrated with RAAST, while a third-party validation process is being initiated for the digital public infrastructure. Senior federal ministers and advisers, including Ahad Cheema, Azam Nazeer Tarar, Shaza Fatima, Ali Pervaiz Malik, Dr. Tauqir Shah, and Bilal Azhar Kayani, attended the meeting alongside senior officials.
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There is no such thing as cashless economy. We barely have system in place for a normal economy. We’ve seen when internet or system goes down. It causes massive issues. No matter what you say. No one cares
Cash is king.