ISLAMABAD: The opening of the Roshan Digital Accounts (RDA) by Pakis­tanis living in Saudi Arabia has witnessed a significant upward trend following Pri­me Minister Imran Khan’s recent visit to the kingdom.

This was stated by the governor of State Bank of Pakis­tan, Dr Reza Baqir, during a meeting with the prime minister on Thursday.

PM Khan expressed satisfaction that the promotion of RDA would put a positive impact on the foreign exchange reserves.

During his visit to Saudi Arabia in the second week of May, the prime minister had addressed the Pakistani community in Jeddah at a ceremony held on the topic of RDA. He had acknowledged the contribution of Pakis­tani expatriates residing in Saudi Arabia for the progress and economic development of Pakistan.

Last month, Prime Minis­ter Khan had thanked the overseas Pakistanis for their overwhelming res­ponse as they deposited over $1 billion via RDA. He appreciated the State Bank and commercial banks for achieving the significant milestone in such a short period.

Financial sector believes the higher inflow in RDA is a sign of improved confidence of overseas Pakistanis in the economy, as the country succeeded in increasing its foreign exchange reserve and regained current account surplus from huge $20bn deficit in FY18.

Meanwhile, Vice Chair­man of the Toyota Motor Corporation Shinji Yanagi and Chief Executive Officer of the Indus Motors Com­pany Ali Asghar Jamali called on Prime Minister Khan.

The prime minister was infor­med that the Indus Motors Company was keen to start local manufacturing of hybrid vehicles in Pakistan.

He was also apprised of growing confidence of foreign investors in Pakis­tan’s large scale manufacturing, particularly in auto industry, due to the government’s positive and business-friendly policies.

Published in Dawn, May 21st, 2021