Govt focused on digitising Pakistan's economy: PM Shehbaz

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif said that the government is prioritising efforts to digitise the economy and shift financial transactions to a cashless, digital framework.

Presiding over a review meeting on the cashless economy in Islamabad on Sunday, he instructed all provincial chief secretaries to fully support the federal government in extending the Raast digital payment system to the district level.

PM Shehbaz expressed contentment with the advancements achieved in transitioning to a cashless economy and digital financial systems.

The meeting was briefed that Pakistan will develop digital public infrastructure to create digital IDs for every citizen, integrating national Identity Cards, biometrics, and mobile numbers.

These digital IDs will enable secure and efficient payments. It was further said that the provincial governments have shown significant progress in linking government-to-public and public-to-government payments with the Raast system.

The meeting was informed that the federal development agencies have granted Right of Way for fiber connectivity, while discussions are ongoing with Pakistan Railways and the National Highway Authority to expand digital infrastructure.

PM Shehbaz had earlier established a high-level committee to promote cashless economy and speed up the digitisation.

The committee, chaired by the prime minister himself, will review the progress and initiatives related to the promotion of digitization and cashless economy on a weekly basis.

Chairing a meeting in this regard, the prime minister had emphasized that digitization of the economy was among the government’s top reform priorities.

He directed to encourage the digital money transfers and digital payments through policy initiatives. He pointed out that in the federal budget 2025-26, the government had proposed a number of initiatives for the promotion of cashless economy.

He told that the government was also taking steps to discourage the informal economy and to promote digital transactions for shopping and money transfers.