According to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan, inflows under Roshan Digital Accounts (RDAs), a banking facility allocated for non-resident Pakistanis, totaled $146 million in October, a decrease of 13.1% from last month’s $168 million and the lowest since December 2020. (SBP).
The total amount of inflows as of December 2020 was $140 million.
In the meantime, 13,850 new accounts were opened in October, bringing the total to 485,873.
Since its September 2020 start, RDA inflows have totaled $5.295 billion.
SBP figures show that $3.344 billion, or 63% of this total, has been invested in Naya Pakistan Certificates (NPCs), with $1.722 billion going to conventional financing and $1.622 billion going to Islamic financing for the same certificates.
46 million dollars, or 1% of the total, have been invested in the Pakistan Stock Exchange.
Dr. Khaqan Najib, a former adviser to the finance ministry, claimed that the recent increase in global rates has caused a decline in investment in Pakistan. To ensure a greater flow of money under RDAs to Pakistan, authorities must reevaluate the rates on dollar-denominated investments.
Pakistan needs to assure flows from all sources since it is experiencing a dollar liquidity crisis, he said.
The RDA is a State Bank flagship programme designed to link Pakistanis living abroad with Pakistan’s banking and payment infrastructure.
Last week, SBP Governor Jameel Ahmad revealed that RDAs had been opened by non-resident Pakistanis from 175 different nations. The official debut of the Roshan Equities Investment, a product supplied under the RDA umbrella, is planned to encourage investment in the equity market through a fully digitised process, he added. “However, investments via RDAs into the stock exchange have been very modest.”