RDAs receive biggest daily spike in remittances since launch

KARACHI: Roshan Digital Account (RDA) has set an all-time high for remittances from overseas Pakistanis, as it received more than $7 million in a single day (Wednesday).

“Yesterday, inward remittances from overseas Pakistanis into Roshan Digital Account 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 (NPCs),” the official account of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) tweeted on Thursday.

The SBP did not provide any details about the number of accounts opened under the scheme in its tweet.

RDA has received an overwhelming response from the non-resident Pakistanis (NRPs). The number of accounts and amounts remitted and investment has been growing every day. Expatriates were depositing $2-4 million daily in RDAs until November.

Analysts said RDA was a long-term source of foreign exchange flows in the country, providing support to the remittances, domestic currency and forex reserves.

The country’s forex reserves have increased to $20.402 billion as of December 4 from $18.886 billion at the end of June 2020. Remittances from Pakistani workers abroad rose 26.5 percent to $9.431 billion in the four months of the current fiscal year.

“This is a very encouraging development and RDA is a very sound initiative by the State Bank of Pakistan. Also, SBP has been marketing this initiative very effectively through webinars in collaborations with various institutions,” said Saad Hashemy, an executive director at BMA Capital. “With such a strong focus on this initiative and ongoing marketing effort, one can expect such flows to continue to increase in future.”

The government launched RDA in September. Through this account, NRPs would be fully integrated with Pakistan’s banking and payments system. For the first time in the country’s history, they would be able to open an account in Pakistan without requiring physical presence either in Pakistan or in any embassy or consulate. This account would provide them access to a full range of banking services and exciting investment opportunities in Pakistan from wherever they live.

The government also launched NPCs in October aimed to offer attractive investment opportunities to overseas Pakistanis and resident Pakistanis with assets held abroad. These certificates are available in conventional and Shariah-compliant versions.