Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb holds virtual meeting with SBP, PBA to review progress on financing for priority sectors

ISLAMABAD, Nov 18 (SABAH): Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb held a virtual meeting with the Governor State Bank of Pakistan and Chairman Pakistan Banks’ Association (PBA) and their teams to discuss progress on financing for the priority sectors on Monday.

Zafar Masud, Chairman of PBA, apprised the Minister on various initiatives planned by PBA for building an inclusive and sustainable financial ecosystem. He proposed that electronic warehouse receipt finance, SME index, corporate farming financing, venture capital fund for fintechs, revival of agri cooperatives and establishment of financial data exchange could be some of the potential initiatives to create a long-term impact towards a sustainable financial ecosystem. He also proposed initiatives such as fan financing, EV financing, solarization of tube-wells and markup subsidy and first loss coverage for SME financing for a short-term and more immediate impact on the system.

Jameel Ahmed, Governor State Bank of Pakistan, highlighted the progress achieved on various fronts in respect of various initiatives proposed by PBA for financing to priority sectors. He argued that some of the proposals suggested by PBA were concrete in scope and the central bank had already issued necessary notifications on regulatory side to facilitate their implementation. He also proposed a more proactive consultation between stakeholders, particularly with telecos and power companies, on initiatives requiring data collection and building scorecard for agriculture and SME sectors for sustainable financing.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb appreciated the work done by PBA and SBP for coming up with substantial initiatives and taking measures for implementing the more tangible initiatives. He urged that initiatives with short term and immediate impact be given priority and their implementation timeframe be compressed for finalizing them by end December and hopefully rolling them out from early next year. The Minister also assured full support for arranging necessary consultations between PBA/SBP and the stakeholder ministries, adding the Finance Division would also host a meeting of all relevant stakeholders to hear their viewpoints, and help forge a consensus on the proposed initiatives.