Govt prioritising shift to digital, cashless economy: PM Shehbaz

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday said that the government is working on a priority basis to digitise the economy and transition the transaction system to a cashless and digital model.

PM Shehbaz stated this while presiding a review meeting on cashless and digital economy in Islamabad.

The prime minister expressed satisfaction over the steps taken and progress made toward a cashless economy.

“The government is working to change the buying and selling system to a cashless system,” he said.

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He instructed all the chief secretaries to fully cooperate with the federal government in taking the Raast system to the district government level.

The meeting was briefed on the progress of initiatives toward a cashless economy.

According to the briefing, digital IDs will be created through Pakistan Digital Public Infrastructure, which will include each individual’s national identity card, biometric data, and mobile phone numbers.

These digital IDs will be used for digital payments, the briefing added.

The briefing also stated that provincial governments have made significant progress in linking public-to-government and government-to-public payment systems with Raast.

Regarding the development of digital infrastructure, the federal development authority has granted right of way for fiber connectivity, while discussions with Pakistan Railways and the National Highway Authority in this regard are ongoing.

The meeting was attended by Federal Minister for Finance & Revenue Muhammad Aurangzeb, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Ahsan Iqbal Cheema, Federal Minister for Information & Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar, Federal Minister for IT & Telecom Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Federal Minister for Petroleum Ali Pervaiz Malik, Prime Minister’s Advisor Dr Tauqir Shah, Minister of State for Finance & Railways Bilal Azhar Kayani, and other senior government officials.