Daily Times

Governor of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Reza Baqir said the SBP’s objective was to support the business community because sustainable development cannot be made possible without it.

He expressed these views while addressing the event ‘Ensuring Sustainable Growth and Promoting Digitisation’ held on Wednesday.

No country grows if its economy is not digitised, he said, adding that we are removing the paper and the digitisation process has been expedited.

The governor said SBP has always given incentives to the business community, especially exporters because the economy cannot grow until exports go up.

The exporters can be supportive for sustainable development in the country, he informed. Highlighting the Bank’s achievements, he said that two years ago the interest rate was more than 13 percent and it witnessed a decline to seven percent now. Besides, the reserves have increased by about Rs10 billion.

Apart from this, various schemes have been launched to support the business community, he said, adding that loan schemes have also been announced to support new sectors.

We are focusing on the empowerment of women and a policy would be announced soon to support women in every sector, he added.

Deputy Governor SBP Sima Kamil said that everything has been digitised to facilitate the business community and banking system to ensure the sustainable growth. Like other parts of the world, we will announce digital banks including retail banking, she said, recounting that the people from the business community can open these banks in the country.

Here, cyber security is very important, the deputy governor said. “We are going to launch a system where the money can be sent through a mobile number,” she added.

She urged the business community to play an active role by creating awareness about digitisation in the country. Sima Kamil said there are 13 percent women working in banks, which is very low if we compare it with other countries.