ISLAMABAD: State Bank of Pakistan Governor Jameel Ahmad on Friday launched the Pasban Remittance Reward Scheme, under which more than 10,000 overseas Pakistanis will receive cash prizes worth Rs16 billion annually for sending remittances through formal banking channels.

The market-based scheme has been launched by the Pakistan Banks’ Association (PBA) under the stewardship of the State Bank of Pakistan, with all costs to be borne by the banking industry and no financial burden on the national exchequer.

The initiative aims to encourage overseas Pakistanis to send remittances through formal banking channels and strengthen the country’s external account by increasing inflows through the banking system.

Under the scheme, a remittance recipient receiving the equivalent of at least $100 per month for three consecutive months in a quarter will be eligible to participate.

For every $100 in eligible monthly remittances, the recipient will receive one digital, non-transferable entry. Recipients receiving higher amounts will receive additional entries in proportion to the amount received.

For example, a recipient receiving the equivalent of $100, $200 and $300 in October, November and December will receive one, two and three entries respectively, giving them six entries for the quarter.

A total of 2,521 cash prizes worth Rs4 billion will be distributed every quarter. These will include one first prize of Rs100 million, 20 second prizes of Rs25 million each, 100 third prizes of Rs10 million each and 2,400 fourth prizes of Rs1 million each.

The annual prize pool will amount to Rs16 billion, with prizes distributed among more than 10,000 winners through four quarterly draws.

The prizes will be allocated according to regions accounting for significant remittance flows, with 50% allocated to the Gulf Cooperation Council, 15% to the United Kingdom, 15% to Europe, 10% to North America and 10% to other countries. The first prize will be open to eligible recipients from all regions.

The first draw will be held on January 15, 2027, covering eligible remittances received between October 1 and December 31, 2026.

The draws will be conducted through a secure, fully digital and auditable process.

Participation in the scheme will be free of charge. Banks will not charge any fee or require recipients to make any payment, purchase a ticket, maintain a minimum balance or provide any other consideration to participate.

Speaking at the launch ceremony, Governor Jameel Ahmad said the State Bank and the government had worked with the PBA over the past several months to develop the scheme.

He said the Pasban scheme would operate on a market-based model as part of broader efforts towards self-reliance, making it easier and more attractive for overseas Pakistanis to send remittances through formal banking channels.

Ahmad said workers’ remittances were a primary source of income for millions of Pakistani families, helping them meet household expenses, education and healthcare costs, as well as providing resources for investment and other economic opportunities.

He said the country’s external account had also stabilised after reaching unsustainable levels in fiscal year 2022, when the current account deficit contributed to a sharp decline in foreign exchange reserves.

According to the governor, SBP foreign exchange reserves, which had fallen to $3 billion in February 2023, had risen to $21.4 billion.

Ahmad said the continued strengthening of foreign exchange reserves differed from previous episodes because it had been driven by purchases of foreign exchange from the market rather than accumulation of external debt.

He also highlighted the performance of workers’ remittances, which reached a record $41.6 billion in fiscal year 2026, compared with $21.7 billion in fiscal year 2019.

The governor said the improvement reflected better economic indicators as well as greater stability and resilience, which could help reduce boom-and-bust cycles and support a more sustainable growth path.

He said the government and the State Bank had introduced several policy and reform measures to strengthen the external sector.

These included tax incentives for exports in the latest budget, targeted long-term financing and performance-based rebate schemes developed by the SBP in consultation with stakeholders.

The scope of the Roshan Digital Account has also been expanded to provide investment opportunities to overseas Pakistanis, foreign investors and Pakistani residents with declared foreign assets.

Ahmad said the SBP had also taken measures to improve access and recently conducted an awareness session in the United Kingdom.

He added that IT companies and freelancers had been facilitated in opening foreign currency accounts and retaining export proceeds in those accounts.

The governor said several schemes introduced over the years had helped encourage the use of formal channels for remittances, develop the market, bring more financial institutions into the ecosystem and strengthen infrastructure for processing growing remittance flows.

He said the rising cost of such schemes had prompted the government, SBP and banking industry to develop and gradually shift towards a more sustainable, market-based model.

Ahmad described the launch of Pasban as another step in that transition and thanked the banking industry for supporting formal remittance channels.

PBA CEO and Secretary General Munir Kamal said Pasban was the latest in a series of coordinated measures by the government, the State Bank and the banking industry to support the external sector.

He said the scheme had been designed by banks based on the remitter’s bank.

Kamal said the banking industry had incurred around Rs100 billion in costs since July 2026 to provide free remittance receipt services throughout the year.

He added that banks had voluntarily reduced the Export Refinance Facility markup by three percentage points to 4.50% for new loans and renewals this year, against an ERF limit of Rs1,052 billion.

PBA Chairman Zafar Masud said Pakistani banks had continued to support the economy by taking on Rs80 billion in incentives for remittance senders, reducing export refinance rates, increasing lending to the private, agriculture and SME sectors to record levels and supporting efforts to address circular debt.

He said overseas Pakistanis were equally important to the country’s economic story and described the Pasban scheme as recognition of their contribution to the national economy.