Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Friday underscored that providing easy financial facilities to various sectors is essential for sustainable economic development. He emphasized that banks should significantly increase the provision of loans to priority sectors, especially the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector, which is the backbone of the country’s economy.
The prime minister chaired a high-level meeting on promoting access to finance in Pakistan and was briefed on the Access to Finance Plan, a Prime Minister’s Office news release said. Speaking on the occasion, the prime minister said the availability of easy-to-access financial facilities would enable increased exports, new employment opportunities and sustainable economic growth. He also announced that the banks that perform better in extending financial facilities would be encouraged.
“I will personally chair the monthly review meeting regarding the progress on the Access to Finance Plan. The government wants to make the economy stronger and more export-oriented by increasing access to financial facilities,” Prime Minister Shehbaz said.
During the briefing, the officials highlighted the priorities and goals of the Access to Finance Plan that were aimed to accelerate the journey from economic stability to sustainable economic growth. They briefed that the key priorities include expanding the provision of financial services and making it a part of the national mainstream.
The main focus of the plan is to increase access to easy loans and credit for SMEs, agriculture, exports, renewable energy, housing and IT sectors. The main objective of the plan is to increase exports, sustainable economic growth and create new employment opportunities, the officials said.
The forum was informed that a system-wide approach involving the Ministry of Finance, State Bank of Pakistan, provincial governments and relevant institutions would be adopted for implementation. The Finance Minister will head the new governance structure while the Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan will be the co-chair. Moreover, regular meetings will be held under the governance structure and the prime minister will be informed of the progress every month.
The officials also informed during the briefing, under the new governance structure, ambitious targets have been set for the provision of financial facilities in various sectors for the next two years. The goals of the Access to Finance Plan include a significant increase in the number of loans provided by banks to the SME sector and the number of businesses receiving loans.
A target has been set to increase the share of the SME sector in private sector loans from 7 percent to 10 percent in the next two years. The target has been set to increase the number of loan beneficiaries in the SME sector from 310,000 to 750,000 in the next two years, they added.