Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has told the State Bank of Pakistan and the finance ministry not to grant concessions to banks that are slow to lend to farmers, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and buyers under the Prime Minister's Apna Ghar housing scheme. He gave the instruction on Monday while chairing a meeting on credit to priority sectors.
The prime minister praised banks that were performing well and said banks were key to private-sector growth, so they should support priority sectors in the same way the government and its agencies support banks. He said SMEs had great potential to grow the economy, exports and jobs, that agriculture was the backbone of the economy, and that the Apna Ghar scheme would boost many industries linked to construction.
He asked the finance minister to resolve financing problems in the three sectors and draw up a comprehensive action plan, and directed the State Bank and the Federal Board of Revenue to jointly settle tax issues of SMEs and exporters and prepare a strategy to cover lending risk and make loans easier. The meeting was told the State Bank was working on better regulation, sharing of risk and cost between the government and banks, and wider digital services.
In a separate meeting, the prime minister called progress on the under-construction Jinnah Medical Complex satisfactory, and said its targets must be met on time and all hiring there must be on merit and transparent.