Islamabad: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has urged banks and financial institutions to play forceful role in providing loans to farmers, SMEs and the housing sector on easy conditions.
Government will encourage the banks which demonstrate excellent performance in extending loans.
A review meeting on Access to Finance for Agriculture, Housing and SMEs sector 2026-2028 was held under PM Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad.
Addressing the meeting PM said agricultural sector is the backbone of national economy. Therefore, working for its development and taking steps for providing facility to farmers is a national responsibility.
He directed the concerned authorities to ensure provision of financial resources to farmers unhindered on easy conditions.
Declaring provision of inexpensive housing to low income and middle class top priority of government PM directed provincial chief secretaries to conduct comprehensive survey of such properties for which banks could provide loans to aspiring homeowners under the Prime Minister's Apna Ghar Scheme.
The meeting was informed that 147,504 applications have so far been received under the Prime Minister's Apna Ghar Scheme, of which 53,127 applications have been approved. The total value of approved applications under the scheme stands at 313.42 billion rupees while 45.43 billion rupees in loans have been disbursed to 8,739 applicants.
It was informed that a system is being developed to identify plots across the country that meet mortgage requirements. The pilot project will be launched in Islamabad.
It was informed that bank lending to the SME sector stood at 1.067 trillion rupees as of August this year, while the Access to Finance Plan 2026-28 has set a target of two trillion rupees by June 2028.
The meeting was attended by Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and foreign minister Ishaq Dar, ministers Ahad Khan Cheema, Rana Tanvir Hussain, Muhammad Aurangzeb, Riaz Hussain Pirzada, state minister Bilal Azhar Kiyani, advisor to PM Haroon Akhtar Khan , governor state bank Jamil Ahmad , chief secretaries of all four provinces, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, presidents and CEOs of Pakistani banks and others .