Business Desk 
Oct 20, 2024
Pakistanis can now make money transactions with Arab countries as the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) governor Jameel Ahmed made an announcement that a bridge was formed between Pakistan's instant payment system, Raast, and the Arab Monetary Fund’s Buna platform.
Marking a notable development in the realm of digital payments, the facility of Raast transfers to Arab countries establishes a cross-currency bridge between Pakistan and the Gulf bloc allowing citizens to send or receive money.
On the sidelines of offering cross-border transactions, the development will also strengthen Pakistan's trade ties with Arab nations.
Read more: Fintech firm Abhi secures $15m to expand financial services across Pakistan, Middle East
As reported by Pro Pakistani, the central bank of Pakistan is also developing a system that will allow direct payments to China via banking channels. However, the facility will be exclusive to Pakistani e-wallet users. The system is the outcome of a partnership recent partnership between Pakistani and Chinese financial firms approved by the SBP.
The system is said to simplify online shopping and ticket buying in China.
Setting forth the objectives to ensure beyond-border footing of national banking services, SBP also unveiled plans for the third National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) 2028 in the ongoing fiscal year 2024-25.
This remarkable initiative aims to expand banking services to Pakistan’s 75% adult population by 2028, registering a massive 15% increment in the existing banking coverage of 60%.
The broadening of banking access to youth will fill the landscape of financial accessibility devoid of women's representation, with around 25% share of female users in sight by the target year.
