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Roshan Digital Account: how to invest in PSX
How overseas Pakistanis buy PSX shares through a Roshan Digital Account: Roshan Equity Investment steps, documents, tax and SBP figures to Sept 2026.
Roshan Equity Investment (REI) is the State Bank of Pakistan scheme that lets overseas Pakistanis buy PSX-listed shares from a Roshan Digital Account (RDA), the way many ask “how overseas Pakistanis buy shares”. You open an RDA at a participating bank, choose a broker that offers REI, fund the linked CDC account from the RDA, and trade; sale proceeds and dividends can be sent back abroad without prior SBP approval. At the end of September 2026, SBP data reported by the press showed US$153 million in Roshan Equity Investment against US$14.157 billion of total RDA inflows, which is about 1.1%. This post covers the steps, the documents, the tax position and what the numbers mean.
What is Roshan Equity Investment?
REI is the equity part of the Roshan Digital Account programme. The State Bank of Pakistan runs it with the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), the Central Depository Company (CDC), the National Clearing Company (NCCPL), brokerage houses and the RDA banks. Its purpose is to let a non-resident Pakistani invest in listed securities from abroad without opening a separate rupee account or visiting Pakistan.
The RDA itself is a bank account opened online with a participating Pakistani bank. It also serves other uses, such as remittances, bill payments and Naya Pakistan Certificates. REI is an option inside that account, not a separate account type with a separate bank.
Who can use the RDA is wider than the name suggests. Bank guides list non-resident Pakistanis, foreign nationals holding a Pakistan Origin Card (POC), government employees posted abroad, and resident individuals who have declared foreign assets in their FBR wealth statement. SBP’s press release of 25 September 2026 says the scheme has been expanded to let foreign investors and Pakistani residents with declared foreign assets invest through RDA channels. Check with your bank which of these groups it accepts.
How do overseas Pakistanis buy shares on PSX? The steps
The sequence below follows PSX’s REI page and bank guides. Each bank has its own screens, so the wording will differ.
- Open an RDA. Apply online to a participating bank. PSX’s REI page lists 13 banks, including Bank Alfalah, Habib Bank, MCB Bank, Meezan Bank, United Bank, Allied Bank and Bank Al-Habib. Account opening is remote.
- Choose the Roshan Equity Investment option. You select it inside the bank’s RDA portal or app.
- Choose a broker. PSX lists more than 60 brokerage firms offering REI, among them Arif Habib Limited, JS Global Capital and AKD Securities. You accept the terms and conditions.
- Get the CDC sub-account. The broker side opens the trading account and a CDC sub-account in your name, so the shares are held in book-entry form like any other PSX holding. How to open a CDC account in Pakistan explains what a sub-account is.
- Fund the account. You transfer money from the RDA into the REI account. At one bank, for example, this is a “top up” through its trading portal from the RDA to a linked account, done before the first trade.
- Trade. You place orders through the broker’s platform. PSX’s FAQ says CDC, or the bank, pays cash on your behalf against a purchase and receives the shares in your CDC account on the settlement date.
- Repatriate. Sale proceeds and dividends can go back abroad without prior permission from the RDA bank or SBP.
PSX says the direct settlement service is free of cost for overseas Pakistanis. Broker commission and NCCPL clearing charges still apply and come out of the funds you deposited. PSX’s page lists stocks, bonds, ETFs and government securities as the instruments available.
What documents and limits apply?
Document lists differ by bank. A bank guide for the RDA lists these as typical:
| Item | What the bank asks for |
|---|---|
| Identity | NICOP or POC; or CNIC plus passport pages with entry and exit stamps |
| Photo and signature | A live photo and a signed specimen |
| Source of income | Proof of profession and source of funds |
| Tax forms | CRS form, and FATCA, W-8BEN or W-9 where they apply |
| Other | OPF card and zakat declaration if applicable |
We could not find a single published investment limit for REI, and the pages we read for PSX and the banks do not state one. Do not assume there is none. Ask your bank and broker for any funding minimums, daily limits and the schedule of charges before you open the account.
What taxes apply to overseas Pakistanis investing in PSX?
The rules for RDA investors were set separately from the domestic rules. In a press release of 16 February 2021, SBP announced that dividends and capital gains on shares and mutual funds held through an RDA come under a “full and final” taxation regime. It said these investors do not need to file a return for that income, and that they are not hit by the doubled rate for people absent from the Active Taxpayers List. The release gave these rates:
| Income through an RDA | Rate announced in February 2021 |
|---|---|
| Capital gains on shares and mutual funds | 15% |
| Dividends from mutual funds and companies | 15% |
| Dividends from independent power producers | 7.5% |
| Dividends from tax-exempt companies | 25% |
Those figures date from 2021. We could not confirm the rates in force for tax year 2027, and Pakistan has amended the domestic capital gains rules several times since. Treat the table as the last published SBP statement, and confirm the current treatment with your bank’s RDA desk or a tax adviser. For how the domestic rules work, see withholding tax on dividends; the RDA route follows its own regime.
Tax in the country where you live is a separate matter. Pakistan’s rules do not cover it, and neither does this post.
How big is Roshan Equity Investment? SBP’s figures
SBP publishes RDA statistics monthly. We could not open sbp.org.pk from our tools, so the figures below come from press reports of SBP’s September 2026 release, in Mettis (9 October 2026) and the Associated Press of Pakistan (14 October 2026), which agree with each other.
| Figure at the end of September 2026 | Amount |
|---|---|
| Total RDA inflows since launch | US$14.157 billion |
| Inflow in September 2026 alone | US$251 million |
| Roshan Equity Investment | US$153 million |
| Registered RDA accounts | 975,602 |
| Net repatriable liability | US$3.073 billion (21.71% of total RDA) |
| Repatriation plus local use | US$11.084 billion |
Two ratios follow from the table. US$153 million is about 1.1% of US$14.157 billion in total inflows, and about 5.0% of the US$3.073 billion that remained as a net repatriable liability. One caution on wording: the Mettis report lists equity investment inside the net repatriable liability breakdown, which suggests it is the amount still invested rather than a total of every dollar that ever went into shares. Read SBP’s monthly table to see how it defines the line.
The point is that most RDA money has gone elsewhere. The same reports say US$740 million sat in conventional Naya Pakistan Certificates and US$1.375 billion in Islamic ones. Equity is a small part of the programme, but it is the part this post is about, and it reaches the market that FIPI and LIPI flow data classes as overseas-Pakistani activity.
Before you start
- Confirm with the bank that your category (non-resident, POC holder, resident with declared assets) is eligible.
- Check that the broker you choose offers REI, not only a normal account. Sahulat account vs normal account explains why the domestic low-cost account does not suit a non-resident.
- Ask for the schedule of charges, the minimum funding amount and the repatriation process in writing.
- Remember that PSX trades in Pakistan Standard Time, five hours ahead of UTC, so a Gulf or UK investor sees the session at different local times.
- Keep every contract note and dividend advice. They are the inputs to any tax filing in your country of residence.
If you hold PSX shares from abroad, a tracker that does not need a broker login is useful when the market closes at 15:30 Karachi time while you are at work. The SuperX page for overseas Pakistanis shows how holdings, dividends and book closures appear in one place, in English with Urdu for family. SuperX shows information; it does not open accounts, move money or give investment advice.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Roshan Digital Account?
It is a bank account that overseas Pakistanis open online with a participating Pakistani bank under a State Bank of Pakistan scheme. Through it they can send money to Pakistan, pay bills and invest, including in PSX shares through Roshan Equity Investment.
How do I buy PSX shares with a Roshan Digital Account?
Open the RDA, select the Roshan Equity Investment option in the bank’s portal, choose a participating broker, fund the linked CDC account from the RDA and place orders through the broker. Your bank and broker will give the exact screens.
Can I send my share profits and dividends abroad?
Yes. PSX and SBP state that REI investors can remit dividend income and sale proceeds back without prior approval of the RDA bank or SBP. Taxes are deducted first.
What tax do overseas Pakistanis pay on PSX gains and dividends?
SBP announced a full and final regime in February 2021, with 15% on capital gains on shares and 15% on most company dividends, and no return filing for that income. Confirm the current rates with your bank, because we could not verify them for 2027.
How much money is in Roshan Equity Investment?
SBP data reported by the press shows US$153 million at the end of September 2026, against US$14.157 billion of total RDA inflows. That is about 1.1%.
Is there a limit on how much I can invest?
We could not find a published limit for REI. Ask your bank and broker for minimums, caps and charges before you fund the account.
Education, not investment advice.
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