ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said on Saturday he was hopeful the government’s agreement with the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party would be released in the next seven to 10 days, reported the local media.
The TLP launched a major protest demonstration in the country’s most densely populated Punjab province in October, seeking the release of its incarcerated leader Saad Rizvi along with the expulsion of the French envoy to Pakistan over the publication of anti-Islam caricatures in his country last year.
This led to deadly clashes between the police and supporters of the religious group which claimed the lives of at least seven law enforcement personnel and left several of them injured.
TLP workers were instructed to march on Islamabad, though they camped in Wazirabad city after the government requisitioned paramilitary Rangers to deal with the protesters.
Pakistani officials also tried to pacify the situation by negotiating with the religious party, though they said they were going to announce the details of the government’s agreement with the group at the “right time.”
“An agreement has been decided with the TLP,” the interior minister was quoted by Dawn after he interacted with a group of journalists in the federal capital. “The hope is ... [its details] will come out in seven to 10 days and they will be positive.”
The minister maintained he did not actively participate in the negotiation process which was carried out by the country’s religious affairs ministry and Punjab administration.
Since announcing that it had reached an agreement, the government has released about 2,000 TLP activists who were arrested for perpetrating violence from prison.
Some of the prominent TLP leaders have also been taken off a terrorism watchlist, and the organization has managed to shun its proscribed status.
The interior minister told journalists the central government had banned the religious party on the recommendation of the Punjab administration, adding the Pakistani authorities restored the group’s status after the provincial government rescinded its decision.
Pakistan’s interior minister hopes details of government’s TLP deal will be released in 10 days
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Pakistan’s interior minister hopes details of government’s TLP deal will be released in 10 days
- The government did not share the content of its agreement with the religious party, saying it would do that at the ‘right time’
- Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said he did not actively participate in the negotiations which were carried out by religious ministry, Punjab administration
Pakistan sees retail payments surge to $592 billion in first quarter of FY26— report
- Retail payment volumes rose to 2.8 billion transactions during the quarter, marking 10% increase
- Expansion primarily driven by continued rise in mobile app-based banking, says Pakistan’s central bank
KARACHI: Pakistan saw retail payments surge to Rs166 trillion [$592 billion] during the first quarter of the current fiscal year, a report by the central bank said on Tuesday, registering an increase of six percent compared to the last quarter.
In its quarterly report on payment systems, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said retail payment volumes rose to 2.8 billion transactions to mark a 10% quarterly growth. It said the value of the payments surged to $592 billion during the same period.
“This expansion was primarily driven by the continued rise in mobile app-based banking,” the SBP report said.
The report further said digital payment channels accounted for 2.5 billion transactions, representing 90% of total retail payments compared to 87% in the same quarter last year.
The central bank said mobile app-based payments dominated the digital landscape, with 2 billion transactions carried out through apps offered by banks, branchless banking (BB) providers and EMIs [electronic money institutions].
“These transactions constituted 81% of all digital payments and amounted to PKR 33.7 trillion [$120.3 billion] in value,” the SBP report said.
Internet banking also saw a “steady expansion,” with the report stating that an increasing number of users conducted transactions through digital channels. Payment cards in circulation increased to 61.3 million, the SBP said, of which 90% are debit cards and four percent are credit cards.
The report also said that a network of 20,527 ATMs facilitated 267 million transactions across the country during the quarter that amounted to Rs4.5 trillion [$16.1 billion].
“These developments collectively reflect continued progress toward a more inclusive, efficient, and digitally enabled payments ecosystem in Pakistan,” the SBP said.
