Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Monday directed the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP, the country’s central bank) and the Ministry of Finance to take action against banks that are slow to extend loans to farmers, small and medium enterprises (SMEs, smaller private firms) and applicants under the Prime Minister’s Apna Ghar housing scheme.
Chairing a review meeting in Islamabad on credit for priority sectors, he said expanding finance for SMEs, housing and agriculture was among the government’s top priorities to strengthen the economy and create jobs for young people. Banks that perform well under government lending initiatives deserved praise, he said, but those that delay should not be given concessions by the SBP or the Finance Ministry.
Banks told to match government cooperation
Shehbaz said banks were central to private-sector growth and should show the same cooperation toward priority lending that the government and its agencies extend to the banking industry. SMEs, he argued, could lift growth, exports and employment, while agriculture remained the backbone of the national economy, with efforts focused on raising exports through value addition in farm products. The Apna Ghar scheme, he added, would support housing and construction and related industries.
He instructed the finance minister to settle financing problems faced by stakeholders in the SME, agriculture and housing sectors and to prepare a comprehensive action plan. The SBP and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR, the federal tax authority) were told to jointly resolve tax issues affecting SMEs and exporters. The prime minister also called for a full risk-coverage strategy to make SME loans easier to provide.
How much credit has already gone out
Officials briefing the meeting said the SBP was focusing on three tracks: better regulations, sharing risk and cost between the government and banks, and wider digital financial services. The central bank has launched the SME Connect digital portal so businesses can apply for loans and follow their applications online. Risk-sharing and credit-guarantee steps for housing, agriculture and SMEs are in place, with work under way to simplify procedures, cut paperwork and improve digital access.
As of 23 October, loans worth Rs511 billion had been approved under Apna Ghar for 86,899 applications, while 15,584 applicants had actually received Rs91 billion. Overall housing finance stood at Rs455 billion for 187,317 borrowers. Outstanding agriculture loans were Rs1,329 billion, reaching about 3.5 million people, and SME lending had reached Rs1,148 billion for 342,458 businesses. The government aims to raise lending to Rs1,500 billion each in agriculture and SMEs by the end of fiscal year 2027.
Federal ministers including Ahsan Iqbal, Rana Tanveer Hussain, Dr Musadik Malik, Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada, Muhammad Aurangzeb, Attaullah Tarar and Shaza Fatima Khawaja attended, along with Adviser Haroon Akhtar, Minister of State Bilal Azhar Kiani, SBP Governor Jameel Ahmad, members of the National Assembly, senior officials and heads of leading commercial banks.
What happens next
The directions now sit with the Finance Ministry, the SBP and the FBR: an action plan on sector financing, joint work on SME and exporter tax problems, a risk-coverage framework for small-business credit, and pressure on banks that are not moving loans to farmers, SMEs and Apna Ghar beneficiaries.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Wazir-e-Azam ne kaha ke banks ko kisanon, chhoti businesses aur Apna Ghar ke liye qarz jaldi dena chahiye. Jo banks deri karen, unhein SBP aur Finance se madad nahi milni chahiye. Ghar, kheti aur chhoti industry ke loans par focus hai taake naujawanon ko kaam mile. Agar aap loan ke wait mein hain, to yeh meeting is baat ki nishani hai ke sarkar banks par pressure barha rahi hai.
