Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that Roshan Digital Account (RDA) has achieved more milestones as the inflows crossed $1.5 billion on Friday and investment in Naya Pakistan Certificates is surpassing $1 billion.
In a tweet on Sunday, the prime minister while sharing the good news from the State Bank of Pakistan said the accounts and deposits have set new records since achieving the milestone of $1 billion two months ago.
PM Khan inaugurated the Roshan Digital Accounts (RDA) service in September as part of a joint effort by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the government, and eight commercial banks to integrate overseas Pakistanis with the country’s banking system.
For the first time in Pakistan’s history, the RDA provided Non-Resident Pakistanis (NRPs) with an opportunity to remotely open an account in Pakistan without visiting a bank.
“These accounts provide innovative banking solutions for millions of NRPs, including Non-Resident Pakistan Origin Card [POC] holders, seeking to undertake banking, payment and investment activities in Pakistan,” the SBP said on its website quoting Governor Reza Baqir.
The RDA provides access to all conventional account services, including funds transfer, online bills, e-commerce and other payments in Pakistan. It also allows users to invest in fixed deposit products offered by the banks, invest in the stock market, with the added advantage of debit and virtual debit cards for domestic and overseas use.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has urged all Pakistanis, especially youth, to gear up for the biggest tree planting campaign in the country’s history.
In a tweet on Sunday, the prime minister said, “I want all Pakistanis, esp our youth, to gear up for the biggest tree planting campaign in our history. We have a lot of catching up to do.”
The prime minister also shared a graphic image showing that the world average has 422 trees for every person, while Pakistan has just five trees for an individual. The image showed that Canada has 10,163 trees per person, Greenland 4,964, Australia 3,266, the United States 699, France 203, Ethiopia 143, China 130, the United Kingdom 47, and India has 28 trees per person.
Earlier on June 3, the premier said Pakistan must achieve the target of planting 10 billion trees to protect the future generations and play its due role in mitigating global warming. “Pakistan is among the 10 most vulnerable countries with regard to global warming,” he added.
“The country must play its part in saving the world from global warming,” the PM said, urging to grow more national forests, increase the number of trees and invest in urban forestry.
Citing the example of China and Indonesia, PM Imran observed that Pakistan could learn a lot from these countries in terms of green innovations. “Pakistan’s future lies in these efforts! We have taken our natural resources for granted, but now is the time [to care for them],” he remarked.
The premier termed the growth of mangrove forests a good omen for the country. “No other forests witnessed such growth,” he said.
“We started the billion tree initiative in 2013, now we have to raise awareness about it,” the premier added. “Pakistan will take the lead in tackling the challenges of global warming and carbon emissions,” he said.
The premier warned if the green cause was ignored today the country will reach a point of no return.
