ISLAMABAD (The Thursday Times) — Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday directed the State Bank of Pakistan and the finance ministry to act against banks delaying loans to farmers, small businesses and applicants under his Apna Ghar housing scheme, saying those that fail to lend should get no concessions.
Chairing a review meeting on credit for priority sectors, the prime minister said banks were expected to extend the same cooperation to these sectors as the government and its institutions gave the banking industry, the Prime Minister’s Office said. He praised banks performing well in agriculture, housing and small business finance.
He directed the finance minister to address financing problems in the three sectors and draw up a comprehensive strategy, and asked the State Bank and the Federal Board of Revenue to jointly resolve tax issues faced by small businesses and exporters. He also called for a risk-coverage strategy to make lending to small businesses easier.
The numbers
The figures presented at the meeting show the gap in the housing scheme. As of October 23, loans worth Rs511 billion had been approved under Apna Ghar, across 86,899 applications, but only 15,584 applicants had received money, amounting to Rs91 billion.
Overall housing finance stood at Rs455 billion, covering 187,317 borrowers. Outstanding farm loans were Rs1,329 billion, benefiting around 3.5 million people, and small business lending had reached Rs1,148 billion, across 342,458 businesses.
The government wants agriculture and small business lending to reach Rs1,500 billion each by the end of fiscal year 2027, the meeting was told. The State Bank said it was working on regulation, sharing risks and costs between the government and banks, and expanding digital financial services, and had recently launched an SME Connect portal where businesses can apply for loans and track their applications.
