Overview
- Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired a high-level meeting on Friday to receive the formal briefing on the Access to Finance Plan and to signal the move from planning to implementation.
- Officials set two‑year targets to raise the SME share of private-sector loans from about 7% to 10% and to increase SME loan beneficiaries from roughly 310,000 to 750,000.
- A new governance framework will be created with the finance minister as head and the State Bank governor as co-chair, and the prime minister committed to personally chair monthly progress reviews.
- The plan prioritizes affordable credit for SMEs, agriculture, exports, renewable energy, housing and the IT sector and will use incentives for banks that expand lending to those areas.
- Implementation depends on coordinated action by the Ministry of Finance, the State Bank, provincial governments and commercial banks and could widen formal finance access for small businesses and boost exports and jobs if targets are met.