Cashless Economy
The Prime Minister appreciated the efforts of the economic team and the State Bank of Pakistan for transitioning federal and provincial government payments — including salaries, pensions, and vendor payments — to the Raast digital payment system.
The meeting was informed that from July 2025 to January 2026, payments worth PKR 1.6 trillion were processed through Raast by federal and provincial governments. The Prime Minister commended the Ministry of Finance for this significant progress.
Regarding the Ramadan Relief Package, the Prime Minister praised the team of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) for ensuring that 71% of eligible beneficiaries have already received financial assistance. Participants were informed that last year, only 24% of beneficiaries had received payments by the 12th day of Ramadan, whereas this year, timely measures taken on the Prime Minister’s special instructions have resulted in a substantial improvement.
The meeting was further briefed that the number of individuals benefiting from digital banking services has surpassed 127 million.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed all government institutions to provide QR codes on utility bills and other public service invoices to facilitate digital payments for citizens.
Officials from the Ministry of Finance, the State Bank of Pakistan, BISP, the Ministry of Information Technology, and other relevant departments briefed the meeting on ongoing initiatives and presented a dashboard overview of the digital payments ecosystem.
The Prime Minister instructed all relevant authorities to ensure that the targets set for the digital payments system are achieved within the stipulated timeframe.
The meeting was attended by federal ministers and senior officials, including the Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan and provincial chief secretaries.