Islamabad: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called on banks and financial institutions to actively support the transition to a cashless economy, underscoring the importance of digital payments in enhancing transparency. During a meeting in Islamabad, he commended the progress made over the past year in transforming Pakistan’s economy into one driven by digital transactions.

According to Radio Pakistan, the Prime Minister highlighted the success of increasing mobile banking application users from 95 million to 137 million within a year as a significant milestone. He instructed authorities to bolster awareness campaigns promoting the adoption of QR code-based digital payments among merchants. Additionally, Sharif emphasized the necessity for all overseas remittances to be processed through digital channels.

The Prime Minister praised the shift of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) payments to a digital system, citing its enhanced transparency and efficiency. The meeting revealed that the number of merchants accepting digital payments had surged by 300 percent over the past year. Payments to 10 million BISP beneficiaries are now facilitated through digital wallets, and 92 percent of remittances received were transferred via digital means in the last year.

A third-party validation of the cashless economy initiative is currently in progress, with a final report and recommendations expected to be submitted in November.