The government has started paying its employees’ salaries and settling vendor bills through the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) instant payment system, Raast.
Executive Director of SBP’s Digital Financial Services Group Syed Sohail Javaad said at the ‘Future Banking Summit 2024’ that over 90% of federal employees in Islamabad are now receiving their salaries via Raast.
The federal government salaries processed in Karachi were handled through Raast for the first time last month. By next month, employees under the Auditor General of Pakistan and those in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will also be paid through this system, indicating the government’s commitment to digitizing payments.
The use of Raast for financial transactions has surged, with daily transactions rising to 2.5-2.6 million, up from 1.8 million in June 2024.
Javaad noted that the first Rs1 trillion in Raast transactions took 336 days, while the most recent Rs1 trillion was completed in just 22 days, reflecting rapid adoption.
In addition to Raast, there has been a significant increase in payments through mobile wallets, branchless banking, electronic money institutions, fintech, and e-commerce over the last five years.
