Pakistan's economic indicators improving: PM Khan

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday said Pakistans economic indicators were slowly improving, banking on foreign reserves and exports, despite the severe challenge posed by the COVID-19 outbreak.Khan was addressing a felicitation meeting, celebrating the Roshan Digital Accounts RDA crossing the USD 500-million Rs 7,939 crore mark in deposits.The RDA initiative was launched in September last year by the State Bank of Pakistan, the countrys central bank, to provide banking solutions to Non Resident Pakistanis NRPs.

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday said Pakistan's economic indicators were slowly improving, banking on foreign reserves and exports, despite the severe challenge posed by the COVID-19 outbreak.

Khan was addressing a felicitation meeting, celebrating the Roshan Digital Accounts (RDA) crossing the USD 500-million (Rs 7,939 crore) mark in deposits.

The RDA initiative was launched in September last year by the State Bank of Pakistan, the country's central bank, to provide banking solutions to Non Resident Pakistanis (NRPs). The initiative aims to improve Pakistan's foreign currency reserves.

In his address, Khan said the main indicator showing an improvement in the economy was the rise in exports, which grew more than that of regional competitors.

He said the textile sector was attracting investment and new mills were being opened.

''They can't find [enough] skilled workers for textile factories in Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Sialkot,'' he said.

The prime minister said the current account deficit had decreased as another indication of economic stability brought by his government.

Khan said his government had also repaid Rs 6 lakh crore (USD 37,787 million) in debts.

He said more can be done to advertise the RDA scheme so that more people abroad would know about it and open their accounts, as they were contributing to stabilize the economy of the country.

“The overseas Pakistanis are our biggest asset and it has been our endeavor to tap this potential to take forward the country,” he said.

He also directed the State Bank of Pakistan to open a special cell to fully facilitate the overseas Pakistanis in opening the RDAs.

“The more we facilitate the expatriates, more amounts will come in the Roshan Digital Account,” he said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Khan tweeted: “I want to thank our Overseas Pakistanis for responding so strongly to SBP's #RoshanDigitalAccounts. 87,833 accounts opened from 97 countries around the world. USD 500 million (Rs 7,939 crore) sent to Pakistan in just 5 months. Momentum continues to rise with USD 243 million (Rs 3,858 crore) coming in the last 6 weeks alone.” 

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)