According to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), inflows under Roshan Digital Accounts (RDAs), a banking facility allocated for non-resident Pakistanis, came in at $146 million in October, a decrease of 13.1% from last month’s $168 million and the lowest since December 2020.
The sum of inflows reached $140 million in December 2020.
The overall number of accounts increased to 485,873 in October after 13,850 new ones were opened.
Since the program’s debut in September 2020, total RDA inflows have reached $5.295 billion.
SBP figures show that $3.344 billion, or 63% of this total, has been invested in Naya Pakistan Certificates (NPCs), of which $1.722 billion was financed using conventional methods and $1.622 billion using Islamic methods.
Only 1 percent, or $46 million, of the total was 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 an increased 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 the State Bank’s flagship program for bringing Pakistanis living abroad into contact with the country’s banking and financial 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 promote growth in the equity market through a fully digitized process, he added. “However, investments via RDAs into the stock exchange have been very modest.”