Islamabad: Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday chaired a high-level review meeting focused on enhancing financial inclusion and facilitating loans for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), startups, and small farmers.
During the meeting, the prime minister directed the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to simplify the loan process for SMEs and the agricultural sector, emphasising that credit should be prioritised to promote modernisation and economic growth.
“In developed economies, SMEs are the backbone of industry,” the prime minister said, highlighting the importance of supporting entrepreneurship. He also underscored the need to provide youth with entrepreneurship training to stimulate new business activity.
Special Assistant to the PM, Haroon Akhtar, and the SMEDA team were tasked with visiting all provinces, including Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu & Kashmir, to formulate a comprehensive policy for SME facilitation.
The forum was briefed on private sector lending trends, noting that the number of borrowers doubled by December 2025 compared to 2021-22, exceeding 303,000, with total loan volumes reaching PKR 1.1 trillion. The number of farmers benefiting from loans is expected to reach three million this year.
The meeting also reviewed measures to support lending for modern agricultural machinery, livestock, and fisheries, and the central bank’s fully digital “Zarkhaiz-e-App” was highlighted as a tool to facilitate small farmers.
The session was attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar, Federal Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, State Minister Bilal Azhar Kayani, SBP Governor Jameel Ahmad, and chief secretaries from all provinces and regions.
Samra Zulfiqar, a real estate analyst at Zameen.com, is passionate about finding projects that offer buyers the best returns. Her keen insights spotlight the market’s most promising opportunities.
