SME, agri financing: Aurangzeb lauds SBP and banks for stellar growth
He was addressing a meeting of banks' CEOs/Presidents at SBP head office Karachi. The meeting was co-chaired by the Governor SBP Jameel Ahmad and also attended by Chairman Pakistan Banks Association Zafar Masood, senior officials of Ministry of Finance and the SBP.
According to an statement issued by the Khurram Schehzad Advisor to finance minister, during the meeting Minister also emphasized that the macroeconomic stability has been achieved through difficult and unpopular decisions and collaborative efforts of all stakeholders including SBP and banks.
Embrace SME financing as core business, SBP asks banks
He added that the Government is pursuing sustainable and inclusive economic growth for which the role of SMEs and agriculture sectors is pivotal. He emphasized that the banks should work with the same sprit to enhance priority sector financing with a particular focus on increasing outreach to the small and marginalized segments and underserved areas in digital settings.
Governor Jameel Ahmad in his welcome address expressed gratitude to the finance minister for taking various initiative for promotion of priority sector financing including introduction of risk coverage schemes for SMEs and Agri finance.
While expressing satisfaction over the growth in SME and Agri finance during FY25, he emphasized banks to aggressively expand their exposures in the priority sector given the incentive structure put in place by government.
Deputy Governor SBP Saleemullah made a detailed presentation on the progress made by banks in agriculture and SME financing and digitization. During FY25, agriculture credit disbursement reached to Rs2,535 billion which is 14 percent higher than FY24.
Moreover, the outstanding credit portfolio increased by 12 percent to Rs981 billion with number of borrowers increasing by 9 percent to 2.95 million at the end of FY25. Likewise, outstanding SME financing has reached to Rs 692 billion with around 272,600 borrowers at the end of FY25 witnessing unprecedented growth of 41% in financing and 55 percent in number of borrowers.
The chairman PBA appreciated the SBP and Ministry of Finance for the continuous support to the banking industry in promoting agriculture and SME financing and the development of digitization ecosystem. On behalf of the banking industry, the chairman PBA pledged to expand priority sector financing at an accelerated pace during FY26 as well.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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