- Digital payments reached RS1tr every nine days: SBP governor
- Remittances to become faster and more safe with Buna.
- SBP goes to an economy without effective throughout the country in June 2026.
Islamabad: Pakistan has decided to integrate its digital payment system with the Buna Platform of the Arab World, operated by the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF), The news reported.
The agreement will allow cross -border transactions, but will only allow Pakistani entries abroad, without provisions for external transfers.
The development was revealed during a meeting of the National Finance Committee of the Assembly, chaired by Syed Naveed Qamar, in a IT Park in Islamabad on Thursday.
The governor of the State Bank of Pakistan Jameel Ahmed informed the NA panel that the transactions under the digital payment system were around the RS1 billion brand per ring when Rasta was launched, but now the volume of transactions under the digital payment system crosses the RS1 brand mark of RS1 in nine days.
Buna is the Arab Regional Payment System, a cross-border platform and multi-moneas owned by the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) that allows financial institutions to send and receive payments in Arab and international coins throughout the Arab region and beyond.
Run in 2020, it supports coins such as the Saudi Riyal and Emirati Dirham, with future plans to incorporate coins from other countries, such as China, to improve regional economic integration and cross -border trade.
In informing Na Panel, Governor SBP said the new agreement would make remittances faster and more safe. He added that by 2028, the objective is to provide 75% of Pakistan’s young people with digital financial services, while an economy without cash will be introduced at the federal and provincial level in June 2026.
The SBP, he said, has already issued five licenses for digital payments, while digital transactions will not be subject to commercial rates of 0.5%.
The Minister of State for Finance, Bilal Azhar Kayani, told the Committee that the Government would absorb the cost of promoting the adoption of digital payments, emphasizing that Pakistan would become one of the first countries in the region to implement a digital ecosystem.
The Secretary of Finance, Imdadullah, Bosal informed members that wages, pensions, taxes and public service invoices would gradually transfer to the system without cash.
However, the SBP clarified that in the case of user errors in digital transactions, banks would not compensate, while losses due to fraud or system errors would be covered by the respective service providers if the complaint was presented within two hours of any fraud.
Vice governor SBP Salem Ullah, while informed the NA panel, declared that there are currently 95 million active users of the mobile bank application, 226 million bank accounts (96 million unique), 19,000 bank branches and 20,000 ATMs throughout the country, while 850,000 QR merchants are already integrated.
He added that the $ channels will allow transactions even without internet access, consumers will not be charged for payments without cash. During the meeting, Naveed Qamar raised concerns about the effectiveness of the digital ecosystem since “50% of Pakistan’s economy is undocumented” and emphasized the need for out -of -line transactions support.
Hina Rabbani Khar raised the issue of slower Internet services and asked how the digital and without effective economy would be promoted with serious interruptions on the Internet.
The Committee also reviewed the Corporate Social Responsibility Law (CSR). The president of SECP reported that in 2024, 315 of 447 companies carried out CSR activities, spending RS 22 billion, while 199 companies did not share details, and 100 did not spend anything.
He said that CSR is a responsibility, although it is not yet mandatory, but a fine of RS one billion for non -dissemination has been placed. The members suggested to make CSR’s expenditure mandatory and formed a subcommittee for additional discussion.
Meanwhile, the president of FBR, rashid langial, said the CSR prospered mainly due to tax credits, since the remains of charity expenses are exempt from taxes. The Committee also expressed dissatisfaction with the National Policy of Electric Vehicles 2025-30 and summoned officials of the Ministry of Industries and Production for detailed information in the next meeting.
In another development, Pakistan is prepared to pay $ 500 million in the maturity of a Eurobond before September 30, 2025, coinciding with the visit of the IMF review mission to Islamabad for the second review under the extended fund installation (EFF). Pakistan and the IMF are scheduled to conduct review conversations of September 25 to the first week of October under the EFF agreement of $ 7 billion.
“We have made arrangements to pay the $ 500 million from Eurobond before September 30, and this reimbursement will not force currency reserves,” said Jameel Ahmed, governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, during a brief conversation with journalists after a meeting of the National Committee of the Finance Assembly in Parliament.
The higher official sources indicated that the guarantee of the governor of non -voltage in the foreign exchange reserves suggests that Islamabad expects foreign tickets or that the Central Bank will continue to buy dollars from the market to guarantee timely payments.
Of the $ 26 billion for reimbursements of the external debt owed in fiscal year 2025-26, $ 3.5 billion have already been paid. Of the remaining reimbursements, $ 9 billion consist of deposits of friendly countries, which are expected to be transferred in due time.
Given the increase in debt reimbursement obligations in 2025-26, Pakistan has decided to re-enter the international capital market issuing international bonds, including panda bonds in the Chinese market.
The launch of a Eurobond or Sukuk bonus seems unlikely, since it depends on the demand of the international market and the additional improvements in Pakistan’s credit ratings in at least one notch of three agencies of good reputation.
The Panda Bonus is expected to be launched in December 2025, and the first transaction is projected to be in the range of $ 200 – $ 250 million. Two important reimbursements of Eurobond will be presented in 2025. The first, for a value of $ 500 million, matures in September 2025.
An interest rate of 8.25%was issued in 2015 for 10 years. The second, worth $ 1 billion, matures in April 2026. It was issued in April 2021 for five years at a rate of 6%, according to a senior official of the Finance Division.
Another debt refund for an international bonus issued in April 2021, with a value of $ 1 billion, will mature in 2031, with an interest rate of 7.3%. In addition, the Government issued an international bonus in January 2022 to raise $ 1 billion for seven years, which will mature in 2029.
