ISLAMABAD: In the calendar year 2023, the total inflows into Roshan Digital Accounts (RDA) witnessed a year-on-year decline of 33% ($797 million) and amounted to $1.62 billion. Since its inception, RDA has accumulated nearly $7.2 billion in cumulative inflows.
Throughout the year, the opening of new accounts decreased by 25.86% YoY, with 139,898 new accounts compared to the previous year’s 188,696. The State Bank of Pakistan reported this in its latest data on Monday.
RDA, an initiative by the SBP to promote digitalization in Pakistan, enables Non-Resident Pakistanis (NRPs) to digitally open bank accounts through an online process.
One key advantage is that funds in Roshan Digital Accounts can be remitted from Pakistan without requiring approval from the bank or SBP, addressing previous concerns of NRPs about investing in Pakistan due to regulatory requirements and complex repatriation procedures.
RDA plays a vital role as a source of foreign exchange inflows for Pakistan, which faces challenges with external funding gaps. The country has external financing requirements of approximately $24.6 billion in FY24, while foreign exchange reserves are at $8.15 billion.
According to the SBP, during the year, the amount repatriated and locally utilized in RDA was $1.72 billion. This indicates a 39.24% decrease or $1.11 billion in Net Repatriable Liability compared to the previous year. Out of the total, $312 million was repatriated, and $1.41 billion was utilized locally.
The cumulative repatriation and local utilization amounted to $5.98 billion, with $1.54 billion repatriated and $4.44 billion locally utilized, resulting in a Net Repatriable Liability (NRL) of $1.22 billion, constituting 16.89% of the total RDA.
Breaking down the NRL, $331 million remained invested in Conventional Naya Pakistan Certificates (NPC), marking an 18.67% YoY decline or $76 million. Additionally, $455 million was in Islamic NPC, experiencing a 0.87% or $4 million decrease from the previous year.
In 2023, roshan equity investment saw a notable increase of 36.36% to $30 million compared to the $22 million invested until 2022.
Balances in accounts amounted to $375 million, indicating an 8.3% YoY decline, while other liabilities stood at $24 million, reflecting a 26.3% YoY increase.
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