The National Directorate of National Savings (CDNS) has entered in the Islamic finance market in the current month of May 2022, and will now offer Islamic finance to its customers. In this regard, National Savings will now work on Islamic Sharia bonds and certificates to give opportunities in Islamic finance to their customers, the senior official of CDNS told APP here on Friday. He said the CDNS has decided to start Islamic finance and will start implementing its procedural work from the current month to provide the facility of Islamic finance in the institution. In this regard, under Islamic Sharia Compliance, Prize Bonds and Savings Certificates will be issued for investment in accordance with Sharia Principles, he said. The CDNS will provide Islamic investment opportunities to its consumers in an institution like the rest of the private and public sector banking, where Islamic sharia business has now reached 20pc. Replying to a question, he said the CDNS has achieved the target of issuing Rs992b fresh bonds in the last 11 months of current fiscal year 2021-22 from July 1st to May 26th. The CDNS had set an annual gross receipt target of Rs980b from July 1 to June 30 of the previous fiscal year 2020-21 to promote savings in the country. The senior official said the CDNS had set Rs250b annual collection target from July 1 to June 30 for the year 2020-2021 as compared to Rs352b for the previous year (2019-20) for the same time span to enhance savings in the country. The CDNS had set Rs352b annual collection target for the year 2019-20 as compared to Rs350b for the previous year (2018-19), he said. Replying to a question, he said the CDNS has decided to start Islamic finance and will start implementing its procedural work from next month to provide the facility of Islamic finance in the institution. In this regard, under Islamic Sharia Compliance, Prize Bonds and Savings Certificates will be issued for investment in accordance with Sharia Principles, he said. The CDNS will provide Islamic investment opportunities to its consumers in an institution like the rest of the private and public sector banking, where Islamic sharia business has now reached 20pc. Replying to another question, the senior official said that (CDNS) has started working to increase new investment opportunities and promote digital investment through many new projects. The CDNS in collaboration with State Bank of Pakistan is developing digital Prize Bonds, which will be available through online electronic channels, he said. He said the CDNS is in process of launching its first Mobile App for online purchase and encashment of National Savings Schemes. The official said that for better and efficient transfer of funds electronically, the CDNS is going to adopt RAAST in the current month for speedy flow of funds through its financial tributaries, he said. Initially, the CDNS has opened three separate accounts in State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to avoid/stop direct access to the Non-Food Account-1 for its Alternative Delivery Channel (ADC) operations, 1Link Payment, UPI Payment and RAAST payment. The Finance Division will allocate budgetary ceiling on a daily basis and the CDNS will operate within the allocated funds limit. Accordingly, the PFM Act, 2019 is adopted in its true spirit for the Alternative Delivery Channels of CDNS. He informed that the CDNS interest rates were linked with the PIB policy set by the SBP. He said the CDNS had opened new avenues for public and private investment to document the country’s economy and ensure transparency in the financial system.