Islamabad:Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has instructed the removal of obstacles in providing financial resources to the housing, agriculture, and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) sectors to enhance the effectiveness of the credit system.

According to Radio Pakistan, the Prime Minister, while chairing a review meeting on access to finance, emphasized the need for an operational SME portal by the end of next month to facilitate loans for small and medium enterprises. This portal will allow real-time monitoring of banks' loan provisions and other business services, including Letters of Credit.

The Prime Minister tasked the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority with strengthening SMEs by promoting modern technology, increasing productivity, and integrating them into global value chains. The meeting also assessed the performance of the National Bank of Pakistan and the First Women Bank in loan provision.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif commended the National Bank of Pakistan for a 76% approval rate in housing finance and instructed its newly appointed President to employ top professionals to enhance performance, taking necessary action against non-performing employees without bias.

In addition, the Prime Minister urged other provinces to expedite the digitization of land records, following Punjab's model, to simplify the housing loan process and enhance transparency. Under the Prime Minister's Apna Ghar Scheme, 71,690 loans totaling 426 billion rupees have been approved, with 76 billion rupees disbursed to 13,214 individuals. The scheme aims to provide 700 billion rupees in loans for 125,000 housing units this year.

The meeting highlighted that agricultural loans have reached 1,352 billion rupees, benefiting 3.45 million people, with a target to increase this to 1,500 billion rupees and 4.5 million beneficiaries by June next year. Furthermore, 1,137 billion rupees have been distributed to 350,000 SME businesses, with plans to increase this to 1,500 billion rupees and 565,000 businesses by June 2027.

Measures to facilitate SME financing, promote investment in technology, and boost international competitiveness were also discussed. Efforts are being made to revise SME regulations and streamline housing finance mechanisms. The meeting discussed risk-sharing mechanisms, supply-chain financing promotion, authenticated data sharing, and digital systems to minimize customer visits to bank branches.