Overseas Pakistanis have invested the second largest amount of $290 million in a month in their home country through the Roshan Digital Accounts (RDAs), as the cumulative inflows hit a record high of nearly $4 billion by the end of March 2022.
The non-resident Pakistanis (NRPs) largely poured money- about two-thirds of the total investment - in the Naya Pakistan Certificates, which were especially offered by the government to the expatriates.
The government offers a robust rate of return on the certificates in foreign currency, at 5-7% per annum, depending on the length of investment period.
“Thanks to our overseas Pakistanis, the Roshan Digital Account had one of its best months ever in March, with deposits of $290 million and 23,312 new accounts,” the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on its official Twitter handle on Monday.
“Since its launch (in September 2020), the RDA initiative has gone from strength to strength with total deposits surging to $3.92 billion and 388,494 accounts opened from 175 countries.”
“The inflows are acting as a huge support and boosting the sustainability of the country’s foreign exchange reserves,” Arif Habib Limited Head of Research Tahir Abbas said while talking to The Express Tribune.
Increased investment from the Pakistani diaspora in their homeland at a time when the country is passing through a political and macroeconomic turmoil suggests that the overseas Pakistanis are confident that the uncertainty is for the short term and the nation has a bright future.
The overseas Pakistanis have sharply stepped up investment in RDAs following a healthy growth in the Gulf economy in the wake of a surge in crude oil prices that the region exports to the world.
It is pertinent to mention that a majority of Pakistani expatriates reside in the Gulf region.
Currently, the international oil price remains elevated at around $100 per barrel compared to around $70 a year ago.
One unique incentive offered by the RDA initiative is that the overseas Pakistanis can withdraw their entire investment at any point in time and without seeking any permission.
The non-resident Pakistanis have also invested in the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) and real estate through RDAs. The government has allowed them to buy a home and a car for their family members living in their homeland.
Responding to a question, Abbas said that the country’s foreign exchange reserves failed to show healthy growth due to significantly high foreign debt repayments and widening current account deficit in recent months.
“If the RDA inflows were not robust, the foreign exchange reserves would have reduced to a critical level (of less than two months of import),” Abbas said.
Pakistan has repaid a significantly big foreign syndicated loan of $2.91 billion during the week ended March 25, 2022. Accordingly, the country’s reserves fell to two year low of close to $15 billion in the week. “Some $2.3 billion of the repaid amount will return to the foreign exchange reserves after China rolls it over.”
The inflows through RDAs have also helped offset the impact of aggressive divestment in the government debt securities including T-bills and Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIBs). On the other hand, the size of investment under RDA at $3.92 billion has surpassed the peak volume of investment by foreigners at $3.6 billion reported in first quarter (January-March) of 2020.
The central bank designed the RDA during the peak of Covid-19 pandemic in the second half of 2020. The government allowed non-resident Pakistanis to open and operate their accounts at local banks from their host countries by using digital channels.
In addition to RDA, the overseas Pakistanis have been aggressively sending conventional workers’ remittances to their family members back home. They have dispatched a total of $20.14 billion in the first eight months (July-February) of the current fiscal year 2022 that are 7.6% high compared to the same period of the last year.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 5th, 2022.
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