ISLAMABAD: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif have discreetly exchanged letters, reported a local media outlet on Sunday, adding the two leaders agreed to strengthen bilateral relations between their countries.
Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan repeatedly blamed the downfall of his administration on his decision to visit Moscow to meet the Russian president, saying the no-trust vote against him was part of a grand international scheme which was instigated by the development.
Quoting an unnamed foreign ministry official, The Express Tribune said the letters were exchanged after Sharif's election to the top political office of the country, though the correspondence was kept away from the media glare to avoid public attention.
"The official, who requested not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue, said Putin expressed the desire to deepen cooperation between the two countries," the newspaper reported. "PM Shehbaz wrote back to Putin thanking him for his felicitation message and expressed similar sentiments on bilateral ties between the two countries as well as cooperation on Afghanistan."
The report added the messages between the two leaders indicated that the relationship building process between Pakistan and Russia was continuing under the present political administration.
"Foreign office officials said resetting ties with Russia was a decision taken by the state a long time back keeping in view the changing regional and international alignments," wrote The Express Tribune. "That process, officials said, would continue but without much fanfare for some time given the Russia-Ukraine crisis."
The Russian embassy in Islamabad had also congratulated Sharif on becoming Pakistan's new prime minister earlier this month while hoping for further strengthening of bilateral relationship.
Local media reports discreet exchange of letters between Russian president, Pakistani PM
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Local media reports discreet exchange of letters between Russian president, Pakistani PM
- Foreign ministry sources say the two leaders expressed hope for stronger bilateral ties
- Pakistani officials call it their state policy to nurture wide-ranging relations with Moscow
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.
