Prime Minister Imran Khan launched the game-changer scheme of “Roshan Apna Ghar” mainly for overseas Pakistanis on Friday, 27 August. This initiative of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) will increase the participation of the ex-pats in the Roshan Digital Account (RDA), which will help the government in the current account deficit.
According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the non-residents Pakistanis, under this scheme, can now purchase a house in Pakistan through RDA.
The Prime Minister at the launching ceremony of the program said that “I think this initiative will help us attract a lot of money because Pakistan needs dollars and overseas Pakistanis are the only source to decrease the gap between the country’s exports and imports.”
Imran Khan also pointed out that Pakistan is currently facing problems related to the current account deficit which has been caused due to the high level of imports, however, this initiative will hopefully narrow the gap between imports and exports.
Additionally, Imran Khan added that this initiative will be a great source of help for the government as it will draw potential investment from almost nine million ex-pats.
Imran Khan said that “Overseas Pakistanis need to be given confidence, so they invest back home without any fear of fraud.” The overseas Pakistanis will be facilitated in the housing sector which will help Pakistan in sustainable growth.
Prime Minister also highlighted that majority of ex-pats are hesitant in investing in the country due to corruption as people who are already settled in a society that is corruption-free will not want to work in corrupt societies.
Furthermore, Imran Khan added that he has met a lot of ex-pats who have purchased the property in Pakistan, but later their property got occupied illegally. Additionally, he said that the Land Mafia illegally occupies the properties of ex-pats and said that the current government is strongly against this culture.
Roshan Apna Ghar is different because this scheme directly involves the banks which will enhance the confidence of overseas Pakistanis. Imran Khan added that the present government has come a long way in making it easy for people to do business.
Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin said that this scheme would help in retaining the money coming from Roshan Digital Account. In addition to this, he said that a big sum of money is expected in the real estate sector under this scheme.
Reza Baqir State Bank Governor said that the overseas Pakistanis have faced many impediments in housing investment, but they had been removed through the utilization of digital technology.
The prime minister, finance minister, and governor of the SBP handed shields to the top three performing banks in the Roshan Digital Account (RDA) journey from $1 billion to $2 billion, with Meezan Bank leading the way, followed by HBL and Bank Alfalah.
