Karachi: Inflows through the Roshan Digital Account (RDA) have reached USD 11.1 billion since its launch in September 2020, according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Tuesday.
The initiative, launched to facilitate overseas Pakistanis in investing and banking digitally, continued to record strong participation. In September 2025 alone, RDA inflows rose to USD 196 million, compared to USD 164 million in August. The total number of accounts also increased to 862,357 from 851,756 during the same period.
“The net repatriable liability increased to USD 2.11 billion, accounting for around 19% of total inflows, which suggests that most funds remain invested within Pakistan,” said Saad Hanif, Head of Research at Ismail Iqbal Securities.
He added that a significant share of these funds is invested in Naya Pakistan Certificates (both Islamic and conventional), while Roshan Equity recorded robust year-on-year growth of over 130%. “The sustained rise in cumulative inflows and local investment utilisation highlights RDA’s importance in strengthening Pakistan’s external buffers,” Hanif said.
He further noted that, supported by IMF-led reforms and improving macroeconomic indicators, the RDA has become a key channel for attracting long-term investment from the Pakistani diaspora.
SBP Governor Jameel Ahmad recently stated that the country’s foreign exchange reserves are now almost five times higher than in February 2023, owing to strategic interbank purchases aimed at building buffers. As of October 3, the SBP’s forex reserves stood at USD 14.42 billion, despite the repayment of USD 500 million in Eurobonds at the end of September.
The RDA, introduced in collaboration with commercial banks, allows non-resident Pakistanis to open digital bank accounts remotely for investment, payments, and remittance purposes.
Remittances from overseas Pakistanis also showed improvement, reaching USD 9.5 billion during the first quarter of FY2025–26, up 8.4% from USD 8.8 billion a year earlier. In September alone, migrant workers remitted USD 3.2 billion — an 11.3% increase year-on-year and a marginal 1% rise from August.
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