Naya Pakistan Certificates: rates, tax and how to invest from abroad.
Naya Pakistan Certificates are fixed-return government securities issued by the State Bank of Pakistan for overseas Pakistanis, bought only through a Roshan Digital Account, paying roughly 11.75-12.75% on rupees and 6.75-7.75% on US dollars, with a flat 10% final tax and no filer requirement.
- Government-issued certificates for overseas Pakistanis, available in PKR, USD, GBP, EUR and (new since June 2026) SAR and AED.
- Effective 1 June 2026, rupee certificates pay about 11.75% to 12.75% a year and US dollar certificates about 6.75% to 7.75%, rising with tenor.
- Profit carries a flat 10% withholding tax that is full and final, with no need to be a tax filer.
- Held only through a Roshan Digital Account; both profit and principal are fully repatriable.
01What are Naya Pakistan Certificates?
Naya Pakistan Certificates (NPCs) are fixed-return government investment securities issued by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on behalf of the Government of Pakistan. They were created for overseas Pakistanis, and for eligible resident Pakistanis who have declared foreign assets, as a simple way to lend money to the government and earn a stated rate of return in exchange. The key thing to understand up front is that an NPC is an SBP scheme, not a bank product. The agent bank is just the channel through which you buy and hold it; the credit behind the certificate is sovereign, the same federal credit that stands behind Pakistan's international bonds.
That distinction matters. When you buy an NPC, you are not making a bank deposit that depends on one institution staying solvent. You are buying a government security. For an overseas Pakistani who wants a clean, high-yield, government-backed place to park savings without picking stocks or funds, NPCs are the headline product of the whole Roshan Digital Account programme. Inflows show how popular this has become: cumulative RDA inflows had reached roughly US$12.75 billion across about 927,000 accounts by April 2026, and NPCs are the single biggest investment line inside that pool.
NPCs sit alongside the wider Roshan Digital Account framework, which also gives overseas Pakistanis access to the Pakistan Stock Exchange, mutual funds, government securities and property. But where those options carry market risk or require more decisions, the NPC is deliberately plain: choose a currency, choose a tenor, lock in a rate.
02Conventional vs Islamic (INPC)
There are two parallel products. The conventional Naya Pakistan Certificate (NPC) pays a fixed, pre-stated return. The Islamic Naya Pakistan Certificate (INPC) is the Shariah-compliant alternative, structured on a Mudarabah basis rather than a fixed guaranteed rate.
Under the INPC, you are the Rab-ul-Maal (the capital provider) and the issuing company is the Mudarib (the manager). Your money goes into a Shariah-compliant pool, and the returns are shared according to pre-agreed profit-sharing ratios and weightages. Because the profit comes from the pool's actual monthly financials, the INPC figures you see published are described as expected returns, not a guaranteed coupon. The realised profit can land slightly above or below the indicative figure. If you avoid interest on religious grounds, the INPC is the version to choose, and you should read its indicative rates as estimates rather than promises.
The conventional NPC gives you a known rate. The Islamic INPC gives you a Shariah structure and an expected rate that is declared monthly from a profit-sharing pool. Same tenors, same currencies, different certainty. Pick the one that matches your priorities, and verify the current weightages with your agent bank.
03Currencies and tenors
NPCs and INPCs are issued in PKR (rupee) and in the foreign currencies USD, GBP and EUR. As of 1 June 2026, SBP also added SAR (Saudi Riyal) and AED (UAE Dirham) to the conventional scheme, a clear nod to the very large Pakistani populations in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, who send the single biggest share of the country's remittances.
For each currency there are five maturities: 3-month, 6-month, 12-month (1 year), 3-year and 5-year. How profit is paid depends on the tenor:
- The 3-month, 6-month and 12-month certificates are zero-coupon: principal and profit are paid together at maturity.
- The 3-year and 5-year certificates pay profit periodically, on a half-yearly (semi-annual) basis, with the principal returned at maturity.
A foreign-currency NPC pays its profit in that same currency. So if you buy a USD certificate, hold it to maturity and repatriate in dollars, there is no rupee-to-dollar exchange risk on either your principal or your profit. That single feature is the heart of the USD-versus-rupee decision we come back to in section 7.
04The latest profit rates (June 2026)
The table below shows indicative NPC profit rates effective from 1 June 2026, cross-checked across agent-bank pages (Bank Alfalah, HBL, Meezan) and Pakistani business press. Rupee certificates consistently pay the most, because they carry domestic interest and currency risk; the foreign-currency certificates pay less but in a harder currency.
| Currency | 3-month | 6-month | 12-month | 3-year | 5-year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PKR (Rupee) | ~11.75% | ~12.00% | ~12.25% | ~12.50% | ~12.75% |
| USD | ~6.75% | ~7.00% | ~7.25-7.50% | ~7.50-7.75% | ~7.75% |
| GBP | ~6.75% | verify | verify | verify | ~8.00% |
| EUR | ~4.75% | verify | verify | verify | ~6.25% |
| SAR / AED | ~6.50% | ~6.75% | ~7.00% | ~7.25% | ~7.50% |
All figures are per annum and rise with tenor. Sources differ slightly on the USD and GBP mid-tenor numbers, which is why some cells show a small range or simply say "verify"; the safest move is to confirm the exact per-tenor figure on the SBP NPC page or your agent bank's rate sheet on the day you invest.
These rates are set by SBP and revised periodically. The 1 June 2026 figures are cross-checked across multiple bank and press sources, but SBP's own NPC page was serving an older cached table at the time of writing. Always confirm the current per-tenor rate at the primary source (sbp.org.pk) before committing money. Treat every figure here as a starting point, not the final number.
05Tax: the 10% final rate and no-filer advantage
The tax treatment is one of the strongest reasons overseas Pakistanis choose NPCs. Profit on NPCs is subject to a 10% withholding tax, deducted at source, and that deduction is the full and final settlement of the tax liability on that profit. There is no further tax to pay on NPC profit, and the rate is the same whether or not you are a filer.
That last point is the quiet advantage. In Pakistan's wider tax system, people who are not on the Federal Board of Revenue's Active Taxpayer List (ATL) routinely pay higher, doubled rates on many transactions. NPC investors sidestep that entirely. A non-resident whose only Pakistan-source income is profit from NPCs (and similar RDA investments) is generally not required to file a Pakistani tax return or appear on the ATL at all. The 10% deduction is final regardless of filer status. You get filer-equivalent treatment without the filing.
NPCs are also exempt from compulsory deduction of Zakat. No automatic 2.5% Zakat is taken from your certificate. That is a statutory exemption on the instrument; it does not remove a Muslim's personal religious obligation to calculate and pay Zakat separately, but it does mean the bank will not deduct it for you.
One honest caveat: this clean treatment applies specifically to NPC profit. If you also invest through your RDA in PSX shares, mutual funds or property, those have their own tax rules and rates, and the picture can differ for residents versus non-residents. For the broader rules, our guide on investment tax in Pakistan and the tax calculator are good next stops, and if you want to be on the ATL for non-RDA reasons, see how to become a filer. Confirm your own position against FBR guidance or a qualified tax adviser.
06How to buy NPCs through an RDA
You can only buy NPCs as a Roshan Digital Account holder, through an agent bank, with funds remitted from abroad. If you do not yet have an RDA, our full RDA guide walks through opening one. Once your RDA is live, buying an NPC is quick.
Open and fund your Roshan Digital Account
Open an RDA with a participating agent bank (HBL, Meezan, Bank Alfalah, Bank AL Habib, UBL and others all offer it). The account is opened entirely online from abroad, with banks typically confirming opening within about 48 hours of a complete application. Fund it by remitting foreign currency from your overseas bank.
Choose conventional NPC or Islamic INPC
Decide whether you want the fixed-return conventional certificate or the Shariah-compliant Mudarabah-based INPC. Your agent bank's portal will offer both streams depending on whether you opened a conventional or Islamic RDA.
Pick your currency and tenor
Select the currency (PKR, USD, GBP, EUR, or SAR/AED where offered) and the maturity (3-month, 6-month, 12-month, 3-year or 5-year). Check the live rate sheet at this step, because the indicative figures you read earlier may have moved.
Enter the amount and confirm
Enter an amount at or above the minimum (see section 8) and confirm the purchase from your funded RDA balance. The certificate is issued against your account, and the system records your tenor, rate and maturity date.
Collect profit and repatriate at maturity
For short tenors, profit and principal arrive together at maturity. For 3-year and 5-year certificates, profit is paid half-yearly. Proceeds settle back into your RDA, from where both profit and principal are fully repatriable abroad with no prior approval needed.
07USD vs rupee, and NPC vs a Gulf bank
The biggest decision is currency. Rupee NPCs pay far more in nominal terms (roughly 11.75% to 12.75%) than US dollar NPCs (roughly 6.75% to 7.75%). But that higher rupee yield can be eroded, or wiped out entirely, if the rupee depreciates against the dollar over your holding period. A USD certificate protects the dollar value of your capital and removes rupee-depreciation risk; it just pays a lower coupon. The right choice hinges on a simple question: will you ultimately spend this money in rupees, or repatriate it in dollars? If you plan to bring it home to Pakistan and spend locally, the rupee rate works in your favour. If you will eventually take it back out in hard currency, the dollar certificate removes a real risk.
The second comparison many Gulf-based readers make is NPC versus simply leaving cash in a Gulf bank account. Most GCC states levy no personal income tax on salaries, which is exactly why Gulf-based Pakistanis can save a large share of their pay. But a current account in a Gulf bank typically earns little or nothing. Channelling that surplus into a USD NPC turns idle cash into a government-backed, dollar-denominated return of around 7%, with the profit and principal still freely repatriable. The table below frames the trade-offs.
| Feature | USD NPC | PKR NPC | Gulf bank current account |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indicative return | ~6.75-7.75% | ~11.75-12.75% | ~0% |
| Currency risk | None (paid in USD) | Rupee depreciation risk | None |
| Backed by | Govt of Pakistan | Govt of Pakistan | The bank |
| Pakistani tax on profit | 10% final | 10% final | Not applicable |
| Repatriable | Yes, freely | Yes, freely | Yes |
| Best suited to | Repatriating in USD | Spending in PKR | Day-to-day liquidity |
Who does an NPC suit? It fits an overseas Pakistani who wants a low-effort, government-backed return on savings they do not need for day-to-day spending, who values the clean 10% final tax and the freedom to repatriate, and who can leave the money invested for at least the tenor they choose. It suits both the conservative saver (short USD tenors) and the higher-yield seeker willing to take rupee risk (longer PKR tenors). It is less suited to anyone who needs instant access to every rupee, given the early-encashment rules below. If you want exposure to gold or equities instead, compare with our guides on gold investment and mutual funds, and check the live gold rates page.
08Minimum investment and early encashment
Minimum investment is reported two ways, so be careful here. SBP scheme materials cite a minimum of Rs 1,00,000 for rupee certificates (with additions in multiples of Rs 10,000 thereafter) and 1,000 units of the relevant foreign currency (USD, GBP, EUR, SAR or AED) for foreign-currency certificates, with additions in multiples of 500. However, several agent-bank pages quote a lower per-purchase minimum of Rs 10,000 or FCY 1,000. Because the figure varies by source, confirm the current threshold with SBP or your chosen agent bank before you commit.
Early or premature encashment is allowed, fully or partially, but with rules that protect the scheme:
- No profit is paid if you encash before completing 3 months. You get your principal back but nothing extra.
- After 3 months, profit is paid at the rate of the nearest shorter completed maturity, not your original tenor. Cash out a 5-year certificate after 14 months, for example, and you earn the 12-month rate, not the 5-year rate.
- A partial redemption cannot take your remaining holding below the minimum investment.
So NPCs are liquid in the sense that you are not locked in until maturity, but they reward patience. The most efficient approach is to match your tenor to when you actually expect to need the money, rather than buying a 5-year certificate and cashing it early.