ISLAMABAD, Jul 14 (ABC): The Central Directorate of National Savings (CDNS) has set a saving target of Rs 1.5 trillion for the current Financial Year (2022-23) which will promote savings culture in the country.
At this time, the current market trend in the country and the ambitious target was set to further improve the savings culture, the senior official of CDNS told here Thursday. Replying to a question, he said the CDNS surpassed its annual target in previous Fiscal Year 2021-22 and set a historic record of Rs 1,250 billion savings till June 30, 2022.
For the first time in its history, National Savings crossed Rs 1,000 billion fresh deposits and achieved the target of Rs 1,250 billion by June 30, 2022, The CDNS has attained the target of issuing Rs1,250 billion fresh bonds in the last months of current fiscal year 2021-22, from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022.
It had set an annual gross receipt target of Rs 980 billion from July 1 to June 30 of the previous fiscal year 2020-21 to promote savings in the country. The senior official said the CDNS had set Rs 250 billion annual collection target from July 1 to June 30 for the year 2020-2021 as compared to Rs 352 billion for the previous year (2019-20) during the same period to enhance savings in the country.
The CDNS had set Rs 352 billion annual collection target for the year 2019-20 as compared to Rs 350 billion for the previous year (2018-19), he said.
Replying to a question, he said the CDNS had decided to start Islamic finance and would start implementing its procedural work from next month to provide the facility of Islamic finance in the institution. In this regard, under Islamic Sharia Compliance, Prize Bonds and Savings Certificates would be issued for investment in accordance with Sharia Principles, he said.
The CDNS, he said, would provide Islamic investment opportunities to its consumers like the rest of the private and public sector banking where Islamic sharia business had now reached 20 percent. In response to another question, the senior official said that the CDNS had started working to increase new investment opportunities and promote digital investment through many new projects.
The CDNS, in collaboration with State Bank of Pakistan, was developing digital Prize Bonds which would be available through online electronic channels, he said. It is in process of launching its first Mobile App for online purchase and encashment of National Savings Schemes, he added.
The official said that for better and efficient transfer of funds electronically, the CDNS was going to adopt RAAST in the current month for speedy flow of funds through its financial tributaries. Initially, the CDNS had opened three separate accounts in State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to prevent direct access to the Non-Food Account-1 for its Alternative Delivery Channel (ADC) operations, 1Link Payment, UPI Payment and RAAST payment.
The Finance Division, he said, would allocate budgetary ceiling on a daily basis and the CDNS would operate within the limit of allocated funds. Accordingly, the PFM Act 2019 was adopted in its true spirit for the Alternative Delivery Channels of CDNS.
He said that the CDNS interest rates were linked with the PIB policy set by the SBP. The directorate had opened new avenues for public and private investment to document the country’s economy and ensure transparency in the financial system. Replying to another question on the current revision of profit rates of CDNS certificates, he said that the CDNS had maintained the same interest rate on the savings certificates investment due to the market situation and as per Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIB) policy decision.