SBP sees hybrid cloud as key to advancing digital financial system

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is working to expand and strengthen cloud infrastructure and promote its adoption to accelerate the digitalization of the country’s financial system and broader digital economy.

“State Bank knows that digitalization is not possible without cloud infrastructure,” Ahmed Saeed, Additional Director, SBP, said while speaking at 18th International Information Security Conference organized by Total Communications in Karachi on Tuesday.

“The State Bank has already cloud framework, which clearly advises banks that they can use material information [store valuable information] within the private cloud within Pakistan,” he added this while speaking at a panel discussion on ‘Critical Data on Foreign Clouds: Sovereignty, Sabotage, and the Kill-Switch Question’, in the conference.

Saeed said that the hybrid cloud model is well suited to Pakistan’s current needs, given the country’s developing cloud infrastructure, arguing that combining private and public cloud infrastructure would allow financial entities to retain greater control over their data.

However, advancement from a private cloud to a hybrid cloud model would pose challenges for financial entities as well, particularly in terms of performance. These challenges may include maintaining data confidentiality and ensuring adequate security visibility across both private and public cloud environments.

Muneer Kamal, CEO and Secretary General of the Pakistan Banks Association, said that the central bank and commercial banks were continuously working to strengthen cyber security amid the rapid shift towards digital payments and efforts to transition the economy towards a cashless system.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026