In a decisive move to accelerate Pakistan’s digital transformation, Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has announced the formation of three specialized committees to advance the country’s shift toward a cashless economy. The announcement was made during a high-level meeting focused on digital payments, where the Prime Minister emphasized the critical role of financial technology in ensuring transparency, convenience, and efficiency in public and private sector transactions.
The newly established committees include the Digital Payments Innovation and Adoption Committee, the Digital Public Infrastructure Committee, and the Government Payments Committee. Each will play a distinct role in shaping the policy, technology, and implementation frameworks needed to digitize financial transactions at scale. Their primary mandate will be to devise strategic recommendations that make digital payments more accessible, user-friendly, and cost-effective than traditional cash-based systems.
Among the central objectives is the formulation of a National Digital Master Plan and the full activation of the Pakistan Digital Authority. These efforts will help integrate government-to-citizen and government-to-business payments into a streamlined and secure digital ecosystem. Prime Minister Sharif specifically underscored the importance of promoting financial inclusion and reducing transaction costs to drive adoption of digital tools across all segments of society.
He directed that digital payments must become more affordable than cash to encourage everyday usage and outlined the expansion of the RAAST payment system beyond federal operations to provincial and local levels. Currently, more than 40 million users are registered with RAAST, which is now handling all federal financial transactions. The government aims to scale this system nationally to embed transparency and economic efficiency across administrative layers.
The Digital Public Infrastructure Committee will operate under the Ministry of Information Technology, while a steering committee on “Cashless Pakistan” has been constituted within the ministry’s secretariat. These bodies will work in tandem to oversee the implementation of the national digital roadmap, including pilot projects like Smart Islamabad, which aims to make the capital the country’s first fully cashless city.
The meeting also touched upon the importance of fintech as a catalyst for broader financial inclusion and innovation. Participants reaffirmed that digital public infrastructure, combined with private sector collaboration, is essential for building a secure and user-oriented digital financial environment.
Key stakeholders present at the session included Federal Ministers Ahsan Iqbal, Ali Pervaiz Malik, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, and Dr. Musadik Malik, along with the Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, Chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue, and senior officials from various relevant institutions.
This initiative marks a significant step forward in Pakistan’s digital finance journey and reflects the government’s commitment to leveraging technology for sustainable economic growth and governance modernization.