KARACHI: Roshan Digital Account (RDA) surpassed $4bn inflows by the end of April 2022 adding to the shrinking foreign reserves.
State Bank data showed RDA inflows to have reached $4.2bn from September 2020 to April 2022. In April 2022 alone, these inflows reached $245mn.
Expatriates opened a total of 403,750 accounts from 175 countries. This constituted a large number of non-resident Pakistanis (NRPs) funds. By the end of March, the number of digital accounts stood at 388,494.
The Naya Pakistan Certificates (NPCs) scheme continues to offer impressive rupee and foreign currency rates, especially in USD, GBP, and Euro. The latest data showcased no major effect on RDA inflows due to the change in government.
The data further revealed an increased amount of RDA funds investment in capital and NPCs market. If broken down, total investment from September 2020 to April 2022 comprised $1.2bn in Shariah-compliant instruments, $2.8bn in NPCs and $1.4bn in conventional NPCs. Moreover, expats’ stock market investment stood at $38mn.
It is relevant to state that the central bank’s foreign reserves have dwindled to $10.5bn which can barely support the country’s imports for two months. Analysts emphasize that investment schemes targeting overseas like RDA should be prioritised with a focus on negotiating with International Monetary Fund (IMF) to release the withheld $6bn loan programme.
The analysts further upheld, “Moreover, an immediate task that needs to be taken up is foreign exchange reserve management. For that, the primary focus should be on negotiation with the IMF,”.
