Central bank governors from South Asia have called for the creation of a region-wide digital payment network, saying stronger financial connectivity could significantly reduce the cost and time involved in cross-border transactions.
The proposal was discussed at the two-day SAARCFINANCE Governors’ Symposium in Paro, attended by central bank governors and senior officials from SAARC member states. Finance Minister Leki Dorji was present at the inaugural session.
Although several South Asian countries have made notable progress in modernising their domestic payment systems, participants said regional payment links continue to operate largely through separate bilateral arrangements. They stressed that such connections would need to be brought under a broader multilateral framework to achieve greater scale, efficiency and interoperability.
Royal Monetary Authority Governor Yangchen Tshogyel highlighted Bhutan’s payment integration with India’s Unified Payments Interface, which currently allows Indian visitors to use QR codes for payments in Bhutan.
Bhutan is also working to enable its citizens to make similar QR-based payments while travelling in India, she said, adding that the country is interested in establishing payment connections with other regional partners.
“You start with bilateral, but you cannot scale, and it takes time,” the governor said. “If you want to scale, if you want the efficiency, ultimately it has to be a multilateral approach. We need to have those foundations in place.”
India’s Deputy Governor Rohit Jain said India’s digital payment infrastructure had been designed with interoperability in mind. He said regional cooperation could be strengthened through shared technical standards, compatible payment platforms and greater alignment of regulatory requirements.
Such coordination, he said, could help make international payments across South Asia quicker, less expensive and more transparent.
Nepal’s central bank governor, Professor Dr Biswo Nath Poudel, said Nepal had already introduced cross-border fund transfers with India and connected its QR payment system with Sri Lanka.
He said Nepal remained open to linking its payment infrastructure with additional countries, particularly as the movement of tourists, workers, remittances and goods across South Asia continued to increase.
The governors agreed that future cooperation should focus on developing common payment standards, strengthening digital and financial infrastructure, and addressing regulatory and technical barriers between countries.
A fully connected regional payment system, they said, could support trade and tourism while making remittance transfers and everyday payments more affordable and accessible for people across South Asia.
