Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin held a meeting with the Minister for Industries and Production Makhdoom Khusroo Bakhtiyar at the Finance Division to discuss the features of a new credit scheme for the SME Sector. SAPM on Finance & Revenue Dr. Waqar Masood was also present during the meeting. Governor State Bank of Pakistan Reza Baqir joined the meeting through video link.
Governor State Bank of Pakistan briefed the Finance Minister on the proposal for the provision of funds for the small businesses (without collateral) for a tenure up to 3 years through the network of Commercial banks. The banks will design innovative products to reach out to the smaller businesses whereas the government will provide risk sharing facility to the banks, he added. The Governor also shared that, at present, there are around a hundred thousand small businesses availing the SME credit facilities provided by the Commercial banks. The new scheme will accelerate the credit uptake ratio of the smaller businesses up to 30% approximately during three years.
The Finance Minister lauded the scheme and affirmed to provide the seed money for the scheme. The provision of microcredit would create employment opportunities at the local level and in turn, enhance GDP growth and will help in achieving sustainable and robust economic growth, he concluded.
