Govt steps up financing push for SMEs, agriculture, affordable housing

August 11, 2026 (MLN): The government is stepping up efforts to expand access to financing for small businesses, agriculture, housing and electric mobility under the Prime Minister’s Access to Finance Plan 2026–2028.

Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb chaired the second meeting of the Access to Finance Steering Committee, where progress on key initiatives and implementation challenges were reviewed.

The committee examined updates from the SME, agriculture and housing finance sub-committees and discussed measures to remove legal, financial and data-related hurdles that could slow lending across priority sectors.

A proposed wholesale financing framework was also considered. The committee was informed that the framework would be circulated among banks for feedback before being finalized. Aurangzeb stressed the need for clear mechanisms and suitable safeguards, particularly in cases involving catalytic government support.

The committee also reviewed monitoring dashboards covering SME, agriculture and housing finance. Officials briefed the participants on data being collected across various financing programmes and the weekly monitoring system.

The finance minister called for timely updates to the dashboards to ensure effective tracking of progress.

On agriculture financing, the committee discussed steps to broaden lending to farmers and improve crop insurance coverage. It reviewed proposals to enhance the Crop Loan Insurance Scheme (CLIS) towards area-yield insurance, which could strengthen farmers’ access to insurance payouts.

The committee also emphasized closer coordination between banks, non-bank financial institutions and other stakeholders to expand agricultural financing and improve payment and financing mechanisms for growers.

Housing finance remained another key area of discussion, with the committee reviewing progress under the Wazir-e-Azam Apna Ghar Program–Ghar Ho To Apna.

Around Rs34.27bn has been disbursed under the programme up to July, while banks have approved more than Rs220.68 billion in loans that are ready for disbursement.

Measures to improve housing finance included digitizing land and property records, strengthening title verification and developing more efficient mechanisms for mortgage-based lending.

The committee also considered greater engagement with developers and clearer procedures for verifying properties and financing against properly registered titles.

Participants highlighted the need for stronger housing finance structures and legislation aimed at supporting sustainable long-term financing in the sector.

The committee further reviewed implementation of the Pakistan Accelerated Vehicle Electrification (PAVE) Programme, under which more than 1,200 electric bikes have been delivered to customers.

The forum discussed further steps to support financing for electric vehicles and advance the government’s transition towards electric mobility under the NEV Policy 2030. The initiative is aimed at reducing fuel imports, lowering long-term transportation costs for consumers and supporting environmental objectives.

Aurangzeb stressed continued coordination between the Ministry of Finance, State Bank of Pakistan, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, Pakistan Banks’ Association and other stakeholders to resolve implementation bottlenecks and sustain progress under the Access to Finance Plan.

Federal Secretary Finance Imdadullah Bosal, Governor State Bank of Pakistan, Chairman SECP, Chairman PBA, CEO Karandaaz Pakistan and senior officials from the Finance Division, SBP and SECP attended the meeting.

Copyright Mettis Link News