Roadmap Ordered for a Cashless Economy
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif instructed the relevant authorities to prepare a clear roadmap, with specific deadlines and targets, for transitioning to a fully digital payment system and a cashless economy. The instruction was given to the relevant authorities, and it calls for a roadmap that is clear, that sets out specific deadlines, and that sets out specific targets.
A roadmap, in this context, is a plan that sets out the steps towards a stated goal. The goal here is a transition to a fully digital payment system and a cashless economy. The roadmap is to be clear, and it is to include deadlines and targets, so that the transition can be measured against a timetable and against stated aims. The prime minister’s instruction is therefore not only to move towards a cashless economy, but to do so on the basis of a plan with deadlines and targets.
The instruction was given by the prime minister, and it was directed to the relevant authorities — that is, the authorities responsible for the work. The reports do not name those authorities individually, and this article does not add their names. They do not give a date by which the roadmap is to be prepared, beyond the instruction itself, and this article does not add one.
What a Fully Digital Payment System Means
A fully digital payment system is a system in which payments are made digitally, rather than in cash. A cashless economy is an economy in which cash is no longer the main way of paying, and digital payments are used instead. The prime minister’s instruction concerns the transition to such a system and such an economy, and the roadmap is to set out how that transition is to be made.
The transition is described as a move to a fully digital payment system. That implies a system that covers payments in general, rather than a single type of payment. The roadmap is to cover that transition, with deadlines and targets, so that progress can be tracked. The instruction does not set out the steps of the transition itself, and this article does not add them. It reports the instruction to prepare the roadmap, and the goal that the roadmap is to serve.
The emphasis on specific deadlines and targets is important. A roadmap with deadlines sets out when steps are to be taken, and a roadmap with targets sets out what is to be achieved. The prime minister’s instruction calls for both, which means the roadmap is expected to be a practical plan, rather than a general statement of intent. The authorities are to prepare that plan, and the plan is to guide the transition to a fully digital payment system and a cashless economy.
Internet Access and Technology
The prime minister also called for ensuring internet access throughout the country and making technology more accessible. That call was made alongside the instruction on the roadmap, and it is part of the same set of remarks. Internet access throughout the country means access that reaches all parts of the country, and making technology more accessible means making it easier for people to use technology.
The link between internet access and a digital payment system is practical: digital payments depend on connectivity, and on access to the technology through which payments are made. The prime minister’s call for internet access throughout the country and for more accessible technology is therefore presented in the reports as part of the same discussion as the cashless economy roadmap. The two subjects are linked in the prime minister’s remarks, and they are reported together.
TDAP Modernisation Approved
The prime minister approved modernisation of the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan, known as TDAP. That approval is a separate decision from the instruction on the roadmap, but it was reported alongside it. TDAP is the authority concerned with trade development, and the approval is for its modernisation.
Taken together, the prime minister’s remarks cover three subjects: the roadmap for a fully digital payment system and a cashless economy, with specific deadlines and targets; the call for internet access throughout the country and for technology to be made more accessible; and the approval of the modernisation of TDAP.
Source: The Express Tribune
