By Ali Imran
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Monday that improvement in the economy and employment provision to youth through development of small and medium enterprises, housing and agriculture sectors was the top priority of the government.
He was chairing a review meeting on facilitation of credit provision to priority sectors.
In his remarks during the meeting, he said: “Banks that are performing well in facilitating credit provision to agriculture, housing and small and medium enterprises under government initiatives are commendable.”
“The State Bank and the Ministry of Finance should not give concessions to banks that are slow in providing loans to farmers, small and medium enterprises and consumers under the Prime Minister’s Apna Ghar scheme, a part of government initiatives,” he added.
He said: “Banks are of key importance for the development of the private sector. Banks should extend cooperation in providing loans to priority sectors in the same way as the government and its agencies cooperate with banks.”
“Small and medium enterprises have great potential to grow the economy, promote exports and create employment opportunities. The agriculture sector is the backbone of the country’s economy and efforts are being made to increase exports through value addition of agricultural commodities,” he remarked.
He said: “Apna Ghar scheme will promote many industries related to the housing and construction sector.”
The premier directed the finance minister to resolve issues related to financing of stakeholders of the SME sector, agriculture and housing sectors and formulate a comprehensive action plan.
The prime minister also directed the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to jointly resolve tax issues of small and medium enterprises and exporters.
He directed to formulate a comprehensive risk coverage strategy for easy provision of loans to small and medium enterprises.
During the briefing, the participants were informed that to increase the provision of loans to priority sectors, the SBP is working on three basic pillars, which include improving regulations, sharing of risks and costs between the government and banks, and promotion of digital facilities.
In this regard, the SME Connect digital portal has been recently launched for SMEs, through which business people will be able to apply for loans and also see the progress of their applications.
The meeting was told in the briefing that significant progress has been made by the central bank in providing loans on a priority basis to housing, agriculture and small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
As of October 23, loans worth Rs511 billion have been approved under the PM’s Apna Ghar Program, while 86,899 loans have been approved, while loans worth Rs 91 billion have been issued to 15,584 applicants.
The total volume of loans in the housing finance sector has reached Rs455 billion and the number of beneficiary borrowers has reached 187,317.
The meeting was informed that the volume of loans in the agriculture sector is Rs1,329 billion and the number of beneficiaries is about 3.5 million, while the volume of loans in the SME sector has reached Rs1,148 billion and the number of entrepreneurs receiving loans has reached 342,458.
The meeting was informed that targets have been set to increase the volume of loans in the agriculture and SME sectors to Rs1,500 billion by the end of the financial year 2027.
The meeting was told that the government has also introduced risk sharing and credit guarantee measures for housing, agriculture and SME sectors, while work is also underway to simplify the procedure for obtaining loans, reduce the required documentation and improve access to financial resources through digital systems.
The participants were also presented performance indicators of commercial banks in the three priority sectors. The prime minister praised the banks showing good performance.
The meeting was attended by Federal Ministers Ahsan Iqbal, Rana Tanveer Hussain, Dr Musadik Malik, Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada, Muhammad Aurangzeb, Attaullah Tarar, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Advisor to the Prime Minister Haroon Akhtar, Minister of State Bilal Azhar Kayani, SBP Governor Jamil Ahmed, Members of National Assembly Hafeezuddin, Chaudhry Iftikhar Nazir and relevant senior officials.
The meeting was also attended by heads and representatives of leading commercial banks.
