Appearing to follow in neighbouring India's footsteps, Pakistan has vowed to shift to a digital economy in a bid to overcome the challenge of undocumented transactions in the country.
The idea is backed by Pakistan's Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, who is making every possible effort to get the South Asian state's economy back on its feet following months of turmoil, primarily at the political level.
"We generate Rs 9.4 trillion ($33.72 billion) in annual revenues, yet half of our economy remains undocumented", Aurangzeb stated in his address to a special World Economic Forum (WEF) gathering in Saudi Arabia, local media reported on Monday.
"Based on the latest figures I have, approximately 700,000 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and around six million farmers are being offered credits through digital solutions. There is an absolute need for scaling up", he added.
Unlike Pakistan, where the digital economy is yet to take off, India has made a successful transition in this sphere, with its homegrown UPI payment system becoming a big part of the lives of its citizens.
With the help of UPI, even a street vendor receives payments digitally from their customer.
Last month, India's banking regulator, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), said that the country's share in worldwide digital payments now stands at 46 percent.