Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was informed on Tuesday that the number of individuals benefitting from digital banking in the country had exceeded 127 million.

The update came as the prime minister chaired a review meeting on the promotion of cashless economy in the country.

The prime minister commended the economic team and the State Bank of Pakistan for shifting salaries, pensions and vendor payments by the federal and provincial governments to the ‘Raast’ digital payment system.

The meeting's participants were apprised that from July 2025 to January 2026, payments amounting to worth Rs 1.6 trillion were made through Raast by the federal and provincial governments.

The prime minister appreciated the finance ministry's team for the achievement.

The prime minister also appreciated the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) team for the provision of financial assistance to 71% of eligible beneficiaries so far under the PM’s Ramazan Relief Package.

The meeting's members were further informed that in the last year, 24% of beneficiaries had received the amount by the 12th day of Ramazan, whereas this year, due to timely measures taken on the prime minister’s special instructions, the distribution ratio had surpassed 71%.

The prime minister also directed all government institutions to provide QR codes on all bills to facilitate citizens for making payments.

The ministry of finance, the State Bank, BISP, the information ministry and other relevant institutions briefed the meeting's members on measures taken to promote digital payments in the country.

A briefing was also given on the dashboard related to the digital payments ecosystem.

The prime minister directed that targets set for the digital payments system be achieved within the stipulated time frame.