Islamabad: A high level delegation from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation met with Minister of State for Finance, Revenue, and Railways Bilal Azhar Kayani in Islamabad on Thursday to review progress on Pakistan’s digital transformation and economic reform agenda. The delegation comprising Dr Anita Zaidi, President of the Gender Equality Division, and Dr Kalpana Kochhar, Interim President of the Global Policy & Advocacy Division endorsed the country's advancements under the Prime Minister’s Cashless Pakistan initiative.
During the briefing, Kayani revealed that active merchants utilising digital payments had surged from 0.5 million to 2.03 million, surpassing the target of two million set for June 2026. The rapid adoption was largely driven by a PKR 3.5 billion government subsidy for Raast QR, which incentivised merchant onboarding and accelerated behavioural change towards digital transactions. The Gates Foundation reaffirmed its continued backing for the nation's digital financial expansion through its partner organisation, Karandaaz.
Beyond core digital payment infrastructure, the discussion highlighted broader economic reforms aimed at documenting and formalising the national economy to ensure long term fiscal sustainability. Minister Kayani detailed the newly introduced "Asaan Tax Scheme" for small traders, which relies on voluntary, incentive based registration rather than strict enforcement to integrate merchants into the formal tax net.
The government also outlined ambitious targets for the current fiscal year, including deeper merchant integration, the widespread digitisation of public sector payments, and improved user experiences across digital banking platforms. The meeting underscored significant gains in financial inclusion, particularly in narrowing the gender gap regarding access to formal financial services. Both parties agreed to explore expanding their development agenda through a strategic partnership framework to support future structural reforms.
