Advisor to the Federal Finance Minister Khurram Schehzad said Wednesday that the government is accelerating efforts to digitize all government-to-person (G2P) payments and promote cashless transactions by the end of fiscal year 2025-26.
Speaking at the 5th Pakistan Future of Retail Business Summit and Expo 2025, themed “Retail in a Changing World: Building Resilience in Pakistan’s Commerce,” Schehzad said the shift toward a cashless economy is central to the government’s economic reform agenda. The event brought together representatives from the retail, banking, FMCG, and e-commerce sectors.
In his address at a session on “Economic Reforms: The Road Ahead for Pakistan’s Retail and E-commerce,” he said the retail sector remains a key driver of the national economy, contributing significantly to GDP. He added that Pakistan’s consumption-driven growth model needs to be supported by structural reforms and digitisation to sustain productivity.
The advisor said inflation has fallen to 5% from over 35% in the past two years due to a combination of reduced energy costs, lower interest rates, and fiscal adjustments. He added that the federal government is continuing to implement taxation and structural reforms to address fundamental imbalances.
Schehzad noted that the Prime Minister is personally overseeing the digitisation initiative, launched in June 2025, under three pillars — conversion, inclusion, and adoption. He said all government transactions have been shifted to digital systems through e-offices, and work is underway to digitise both G2P and person-to-government (P2G) payments by FY2025-26.
He said the next step will focus on bringing the retail trade and other general business activities into the digital economy. On tax reforms, Schehzad said policy-making has now been separated from tax collection, with the Finance Ministry responsible for designing value-based policies through input from sector experts.
Earlier, Schehzad inaugurated the summit and visited exhibition stalls set up by partner companies.
