A World Bank backed Financial Inclusion project valued Rs14.32b ($137m) has been given the go ahead in a meeting presided over by the Finance Minister Ishaq Dar along with Gwadar Airport project valued at Rs 17.6b. And nine other projects worth Rs143b have been given the go ahead by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) and Central Development Working Party (CDWP) on Wednesday.
The aim of approving the Pakistan Financial Inclusion and Infrastructure Project (PFIIP) is to improve and increase access to financial services to the un-banked population and by promoting usage of digital payment services around the country. A committee has been constituted which will be led by Secretary Planning and Development to assess the cost of this financial inclusion project. According to the committee, the financial inclusion project was in line with the requirements of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy which is being followed by the government and this project was given approval by the CDWP.
In another separate meeting held under Minister of Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal and CDWP, seven projects worth Rs143.5b were given the go ahead. CDWP approved two projects valuing at Rs2.6b and the other five were forwarded to ECNEC due to higher financial impact for approval purposes.
