KARACHI: During the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024, overseas Pakistanis deposited and invested a total of $1.90 billion through the Roshan Digital Account (RDA). This brings the cumulative gross inflows through the RDA to $8.25 billion since its introduction in September 2020.
The central bank’s latest update shows that the net RDA inflows, excluding withdrawals and domestic utilization, improved by $311 million to reach $1.43 billion in FY2023-24. This contributed to stabilizing Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves, which increased to $9.10 billion as of June 2024, up from around $4 billion in June 2023.
In June 2024 alone, non-resident Pakistanis injected a gross $200 million into the RDA, further bolstering the total gross inflows over the past 45 months.
The higher returns on Naya Pakistan Certificates (NPCs) and the overall economic stability in the country have been key factors driving the increased investment through the RDA.
The central bank data reveals that out of the total $8.25 billion in gross RDA inflows, Pakistani expatriates utilized $5.21 billion domestically and withdrew $1.61 billion from their RDA accounts. As a result, the net deposits and investments through the RDA stood at $1.43 billion as of the end of June 2024.
Of this $1.43 billion in net inflows:
$348 million was invested in Naya Pakistan Certificates (NPCs)
$592 million was invested in Shariah-compliant NPCs
$38 million was invested in shares on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX)
$422 million was maintained as net deposits
$31 million was in other liabilities
Financial experts noted that non-resident Pakistanis have been increasing their investments in various assets through the RDA, reflecting growing confidence in Pakistan’s economic stability and the rupee-dollar parity. The investments in NPCs have surged following recent increases in the return rates offered.
Expatriates can freely invest or withdraw deposits and investments in NPCs denominated in Pakistani rupee, US dollar, UK pound, and euro through their online RDA accounts, with the returns significantly higher than those offered by debt instruments in developed countries.
These RDA inflows are in addition to the monthly workers’ remittances, which increased by 11% to $30.25 billion in FY2023-24, significantly aiding in financing the trade deficit over the year.
