PM Orders Removal Of Hurdles In Financing Housing, Agriculture, SME Sectors
ISLAMABAD, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Oct, 2026) Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday directed the relevant authorities to remove obstacles hindering the provision of financial resources to the housing, agriculture, and Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) sectors, saying that the lending system should be made more effective.
Key Directions:
- SME Portal: Make the SME Portal operational by the end of November to facilitate loan provision to small and medium-sized enterprises. It will enable real-time monitoring of loan status and business facilities like Letters of Credit (LCs).
- SME Development: The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) is tasked with enhancing SME capacity, promoting modern technology, increasing productivity, and integrating them into global value chains.
- Bank Performance: Improve the performance of the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and First Women Bank, especially in lending. The PM instructed the NBP's new president to engage top professionals and ensure efficient performance while holding employees accountable without favoritism.
- Digitalization: Accelerate the digitization of land records in other provinces following Punjab’s model to facilitate housing finance for banks.
Meeting Highlights:
- A 76% loan approval rate in housing finance by NBP was praised.
- Rs. 426 billion in loans have been approved under the Prime Minister’s Apna Ghar Scheme, benefiting 71,690 applicants with Rs. 76 billion already disbursed to 13,214 individuals.
- The target is to provide Rs. 700 billion in loans for 125,000 residential units this year.
- Total agricultural loans stand at Rs. 1,352 billion, reaching 3.455 million people. A target has been set to increase the volume of agricultural loans to Rs. 1,500 billion and the number of beneficiaries to 4.5 million by June 2027.
- Rs. 1,137 billion in loans have been provided so far to 350,000 SME entrepreneurs, with a target of Rs. 1,500 billion for 565,000 entrepreneurs by June 2027.