Tough decisions ahead due to IMF: SBP governor

ISLAMABAD: Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Reza Baqir Wednesday said the income of the people has increased.

Addressing Leaders in Business Conference, he said that difficult decisions will have to be taken due to IMF programme. The SBP governor said Pakistan overcame the threat of corona and now the ratio of the disease is much lower than the global ratio.

He said the Pakistan government ensured quick disbursement of financial assistance during the pandemic. He said loans of Rs2 trillion were given to business persons, Rs430b were spent on new investment and Rs240 billion were allocated for loans on easy conditions.

He said the growth rate has increased from minus level to 4 percent, which means that the income of people has increased. He said foreign remittances increased by 27 percent during the last fiscal and the trend continues this year as well.

The SBP governor also met Prime Minister Imran Khan and briefed him over the progress being made in terms of Roshan Digital Account and current account. Reza Baqir during a briefing on Roshan Digital Account (RDA) programme said that as many as 204,000 accounts have so far been opened by the overseas Pakistanis under the initiative. He said 1,000 accounts are being opened on a daily basis. He said that so far, they have received $2.3 billion in the accounts.

Prime Minister Imran Khan said that increase in the number of accounts under the RDA programme is a sign of confidence from overseas Pakistanis in the incumbent government. On August 18, it was reported that the Roshan Digital Account (RDA) programme has crossed a major milestone and hit the $2 billion mark as overseas Pakistanis continued to pose trust in the central bank’s initiative that was launched in September last year.

The SBP with the support of eight major banks in the country is leading the project under which Pakistani diaspora are able to avail the banking facility from a digital payment system and the consumers are able to open their bank accounts without visiting bank, embassy or consulate.