The Kashf Holding Company along with other investors like IFC, Shorecap Executive, World Women Bank and Triodos are launching Kashf Micro Finance Bank Limited here on Tuesday. State Bank of Pakistan Governor Dr Shamshad Akhtar would inaugurate the banks operations and first branch in Dharampura.
According to a bank's spokesman, in 1996, Kashf Foundation began as a small action research project to replicate the Grameen Bank approach in Pakistan. Over the years, the Foundation grew from a pilot project to the third largest micro finance institution in Pakistan, offering small loans to low income households, especially women. Today the Foundation has assisted over 650,000 families through its micro-credit programme.
Four years ago, the Foundation began another experiment that is to target small entrepreneurs earning over Rs 15,000 a month through an individual lending programme. Based on the success of this credit programme for small entrepreneurs and the growing need for deposit services by low-income households, the Foundation had decided to launch Kashf Micro Finance Bank. The need for building an inclusive financial sector has never been as critical as it is today. The Kashf Micro finance Bank Limited plans to reach out to one million small depositors and over 450,000 small entrepreneurs over the next five years, thus facilitating the economic transformation of Pakistan's bottom tiers, in order to promote 'prosperity with dignity'.
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