Islamabad : Business leader Shahid Rasheed Butt on Sunday lauded the Government and State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) for achieving the milestone of attracting over one billion dollars through Roshan Digital Account (RDA) in seven months.
The inflow of foreign exchange through RDA has encouraged the architects of the scheme to introduce two more schemes, “Roshan Apni Car” and “Roshan Samaji Khidmat” soon, he said.
Shahid Rasheed Butt said that the extraordinary response of overseas Pakistanis in not only benefitting them but also strengthening foreign exchange reserves which is a welcome development.
Increasing remittances, investment in RDA and other steps taken by the authorities has resulted in a current account surplus of almost one billion dollars while the current account deficit in 2018 was 20 billion dollars.
He said that the government has performed well in bringing the current account of surplus while the fiscal deficit fell to 2.9 percent of the GDP in the first seven months of the ongoing fiscal compared to 3.2 percent in the corresponding period last year.
Industrial production is increasing which indicate the confidence of the business community and exports are expected to increase due to export-oriented government policies, while imports are also expected to increase on the back of economic recovery.
However, the third wave of the pandemic is posing downward risks, he said, adding that more steps should be taken to revive the agriculture sector and contain inflation.
The business leader said that Roshan Samaji Khidmat scheme should have been introduced two months earlier as the holy month attracts the highest amount of donations, charity, and remittances.