Islamabad, Feb 16 (IANS): Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has launched the second phase of the country's first instant payment system called 'Raast' to enable person-to-person payments.

Addressing a ceremony on Tuesday, Khan said that the newly launched initiative will not only enable common people to execute digital payments instantly, securely and conveniently for free, but also help the government maintain a record of the largely undocumented economy of the country, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Through the digitisation of the economy, over 220 million people can be converted into an asset by ensuring their financial inclusion in the system," he said.

The Prime Minister said the initiative will open doors of further innovation for the economy and particularly the financial sector.

Khan said the outbreak of Covid-19 has had a negative impact on the whole world and increased the global poverty level.

Citing a World Bank report, he said that despite the pandemic, poverty level was slightly reduced in Pakistan which is a positive indicator, hoping that the country's economic condition will further improve through 'Raast' and other initiatives.

As a flagship initiative of the State Bank of Pakistan, 'Raast' is an instant payment system that enables various types of transactions among different stakeholders such as organisations, businesses and persons, a statement by the central bank said.

In the first phase of 'Raas't, launched in January 2021, transactions from organisations to persons, generally referred to as "Bulk Payments", was enabled, the statement said, adding that the second phase is designed to facilitate person-to-person transactions under the initiative.