Chief Minister Shehbaz heralds cashless economy plan as key to sustainable growth

• Prime Minister orders a rural awareness drive to go cashless.
• Raast QR enabled for electricity and gas bill payments.
• Ten million BISP wallets to activate this month.

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday stressed that ongoing initiatives to transform the country into a cashless economy will play a vital role in ensuring sustainable development.

Chairing a meeting to review progress on these initiatives, the Prime Minister asked the relevant authorities to intensify awareness campaigns in rural areas to eliminate the traditional cash-based economy and accelerate the shift towards a fully digital financial system.

“The whole world is moving towards a digital economy and Pakistan must move with it,” Shehbaz said. He noted that from the beginning, his government had prioritized measures to promote digitization, which were now yielding positive results.

He said that for the first time, during the holy month of Ramadan, the government successfully transferred financial assistance to deserving families under the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) through digital wallets.

Chief Minister Shehbaz highlighted that a cashless economy will improve governance and significantly reduce corruption. He directed all relevant agencies to achieve the set targets within the stipulated time frame.

Chief Minister Shehbaz praised the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of IT, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), State Bank of Pakistan, and other concerned institutions for their satisfactory progress in implementing the cashless economy roadmap.

The meeting was updated on the progress of various initiatives under the vision of a cashless economy. It has been informed that electricity and gas bill payments are now facilitated through Raast QR codes, enabling billions of rupees in transactions to take place digitally.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister was also briefed about the progress on 10 million digital wallets under BISP. “All the wallets will be activated by the end of this month and the next installment will be transferred to the deserving families through these wallets,” the meeting was told.

It was further informed that the mobile applications created to download the government services in Islamabad will be connected to the Raast system. In addition, obtaining permits for new businesses has also been linked to the digital payment system, and payment via QR codes has been provided at all outlets.

The government is also issuing licenses to set up digital banks across the country. “With these measures, the financial inclusion of more than 68% of the country’s population has been completed so far, and more will be done by next year.”

Prime Minister Shehbaz called for further strengthening the scope of financial inclusion.

The meeting was also informed about the goals for the next year.

The meeting was attended by Federal Ministers Muhammad Aurangzeb, Ahad Khan Cheema, Attaullah Tarar, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Minister of State Bilal Azhar Kayani, Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Jameel Ahmed, National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) Chairman Lt Gen Muhammadrs Muhammadiral, other responsible LaBRH Office Muhammadrs Muhammadirn.