Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed the relevant ministries, secretaries and the State Bank of Pakistan to consult stakeholders in the SME, agriculture and housing finance sectors and complete the process by the end of this month, as the government cut processing time for Apna Ghar scheme applications to 15 business days and reduced the required documents from 25 to five.
The directive came at a high-level meeting on housing, SME and agricultural financing, chaired by the Prime Minister. Federal ministers Rana Tanveer Hussain, Dr Musadik Masood Malik, Attaullah Tarar, Riaz Hussain Pirzada, Ahad Khan Cheema and Shaza Fatima Khawaja attended, along with Adviser Haroon Akhtar and Minister of State for Finance Bilal Azhar Kayani.
CEOs of JS Bank, Askari Bank, Allied Bank, Habib Metro Bank, Bank of Khyber and MCB Islamic Bank were also present. The meeting was told that 75,198 loans worth Rs448 billion have been approved under the Apna Ghar scheme so far. Of these, 14,000 borrowers have received Rs76 billion. The target for the current year is Rs700 billion in loans for 125,000 housing units.
In agriculture, total lending stands at Rs1,352 billion, benefiting 3.455 million people. The target is Rs1,500 billion in loans and 4.5 million beneficiaries by June 2027. In the SME sector, more than 352,000 entrepreneurs have received Rs1,137 billion. The target for June 2027 is Rs1,500 billion in loans and 575,000 borrowing businesses.
Banks are expanding their institutional capacity for all three priority sectors, the meeting heard. A committee has been formed to promote developers’ finance, and revised SME regulations and simpler housing finance procedures are being introduced.
The Prime Minister said timely lending to housing, SMEs and agriculture is essential for economic growth. He commended banks that have taken an active part in financing these sectors and asked underperforming banks to improve so they, too, can receive government encouragement.
He directed that the consultation process be completed and recommendations submitted by the end of the month. He also ordered that inactive PASSCO warehouses and silos be run under public-private partnerships to increase farmers’ capacity to store produce safely.
The Prime Minister praised Allied Bank’s model of building commodity storage warehouses and lending to farmers against stored produce, and directed that it be expanded with private sector participation. He also appreciated the bank’s proposed investment plan for an SME park.
He further directed that the process of submitting documents for Apna Ghar applicants be simplified and that obtaining an Unencumbered Title Deed for housing finance be made easier. He asked that the developers’ finance committee’s recommendations be finalised and presented as soon as possible.