PM Imran launches 'Ehsaas Saving Wallets' initiative

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan launched on Monday an “Ehsaas Saving Wallets (Ehsaas Bachat Bank Account) initiative during a visit to an Ehsaas Kafaalat payment site in Islamabad.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Prime Minister Khan said the Ehsaas initiative was recognised among the top four social protection programmes the world over during the Covid-19 pandemic.

He maintained that a large section of the world’s population fell under poverty line with the pandemic affecting daily wagers and labour class the most.

Had we not swiftly rolled out the Ehsaas programme, the weak segments of society would have suffered more, the prime minister pointed out, adding 25 per cent of the country’s population is below the poverty line.

PM Imran Khan hoped that the “Ehsaas Saving Wallets” will also be successful in achieving its intended objective. “Poverty alleviates fast if we bring women into financial system,” he opined.

Prime Minister Imran Khan stressed that no country could progress by ignoring the weak segments of society. “A country that has an island of the rich and a sea of the poor cannot reach greater heights,” he said.

Ehsaas Saving Wallets (ESWs) is said to be an essential component of the Ehsaas Financial Inclusion Strategy. The saving wallets initiative is a strategic step forward for Kafaalat households to better manage financial shocks, meet emergency needs, and invest to increase their earnings; to climb out of poverty.

The Ehsaas Kafaalat beneficiaries will now have an option of either drawing their money or saving money in digital wallets.

They can open these accounts at agent shops or ATMs. Initial transactions through these accounts will include balance inquiry, cash in and cash out, transfer funds received from Ehsaas to mobile accounts, mobile top up, utility bill payments and money transfers.