National Savings rebound slows in February

April 08, 2026 (MLN): Pakistan's national savings mobilisation through government-run schemes showed signs of fatigue in February 2026, with net inflows falling to Rs20.69 billion, a sharp 23.4% decline from the Rs27.01 billion recorded in January 2026.

The dip comes despite the ongoing recovery in the National Savings Schemes (NSS) following two years of historically severe outflows that battered the government's domestic financing programme.

According to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan, sourced from the Central Directorate of National Savings, February's performance was weighed down by a contraction in Defence Savings Certificates (DSC), which posted net inflows of just Rs80 million, virtually negligible compared to January's outflow of Rs2.19 billion.

However, the more significant drag came from Regular Income Certificates (RIC) and Special Savings Certificates (SSC), which saw inflows fall to Rs4.17 billion and Rs0.86 billion respectively, down from Rs5.69 billion and Rs1.71 billion in January.

Prize bonds also declined to Rs1.19 billion from Rs2.55 billion, while the broad "Others" category, the largest component by far, fell to Rs14.39 billion from Rs19.25 billion.

Despite the month-on-month softening, the current fiscal year 2025-26 continues to show a strong aggregate recovery.

Cumulative net inflows from July 2025 through February 2026 now stand at Rs203.81 billion, already surpassing the full-year tally of Rs183.48 billion recorded in fiscal year 2016-17 and coming within striking distance of the Rs233.08 billion mobilised in 2015-16.

The current recovery becomes all the more striking when placed against the catastrophic erosions of the preceding two fiscal years. In 2022-23, net savings through NSS collapsed to a negative Rs381.87 billion, meaning savers were withdrawing far more than they were depositing, as interest rates on competing instruments soared and real returns on some savings certificates turned deeply negative.

The bleeding continued into 2023-24, when the net outflow stood at negative Rs108.13 billion.

The turnaround began in 2024-25, when the scheme recorded a healthy net inflow of Rs257.12 billion for the full year, signalling a restoration of confidence as the government revised profit rates upward and the monetary easing cycle began attracting fresh deposits.

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