Facilities for special persons

It seems that State Bank of Pakistan is also now venturing into the business of providing facilities to the dis-abled or differently-abled persons. Presenting details of a plan, SBP Governor Dr Reza Baqir informed President Arif Alvi that the central bank was working on multiple interventions for differently-abled persons to increase their access to banking services and finance. These include access to banking premises and services and, providing access to finance through various SBP refinance schemes. For people facing upper and lower limb challenges, various steps taken by the banks include out of queue assistance, construction of ramps at the entrance of branches and ATM cabins, relaxation in requirement of biometric verification for account opening and facilitation desks at the SBP building and its countrywide offices. With respect to the second type of interventions, the SBP had introduced two credit schemes for financial inclusion of differently-abled persons. The first was Small Enterprise Financing and Credit Guarantee Scheme for setting up new business enterprises or for expansion of existing ones at subsidised financing rate of 5 percent per annum for the tenor of 5 years including grace period of six months. The second scheme was Financing Facility of Low Cost Housing for Special Segments including for differently-abled persons that also includes providing subsidised loans to widows, children of martyrs, transgenders and persons in the areas severely affected by war against terrorism. Dr Baqir also went on to add that SBP will direct all banks to provide forms and condition documents in braille and would set credit targets for banks under relevant refinance schemes for differently-abled persons by 31st March, 2020.

The initiatives taken by the SBP definitely appear to be humane and thoughtful, especially when we see the plight of differently-abled persons at various places while trying to meet their financial needs or attend to some other business. They are also not usually considered favourably by the financial institutions for the grant of loans due to the fact that they are not perceived to be capable to independently make full use of the borrowed funds on account of their infirmities and other weaknesses. Handicapped or disabled persons are also more prone to diseases which could adversely affect their productivity and their capacity to pay back the loans. Keeping such factors in view, the State Bank's approach to the problems appears to be appropriate in the given circumstances and in consonance with its desire to promote more inclusion in the financial sector. By instructing the banks to provide preferential treatment/out of queue assistance, construction of ramps at the entrance of branches and ATM cabins, facilitation desks for special persons, i.e., for differently-abled persons would certainly remove some of the hitches and obstacles faced by them in assessing banking facilities. Most of these arrangements/facilities are a norm in the developed countries. Undoubtedly, the new initiative and particularly its implementation would involve incurring of some expenditure by the banks, but the effort is certainly worth the cost and could increase the welfare of most of the special persons in the long run.

Through the second part of the scheme, i.e., provision of credit to the differently-abled persons at subsidised rates would also seem to be beneficial for lessening their dependence on other members of their families and promote their self-respect, yet the step is not without certain pitfalls. The previous attempts of various governments, for example, show that such concessionary loans like YIPs and for yellow cabs have a high rate of default and are usually granted to persons connected with members of the incumbent government. For instance, the BISP record shows that the funds allocated for the purpose were even fraudulently misappropriated by government officers working in the concerned departments. Secondly, the central bank needs to strive for consolidation rather than segmentation of credit by fixing targets which could result in sub-optimal use of financial resources of the country. And thirdly, the basic functions of a central bank are to ensure price stability and promote growth in the country. Social objectives like provision of loans at subsidised rates should be performed through a fiscal policy step rather than a monetary policy initiative. Keeping these factors in view, we feel that while first part of the scheme is laudable, its second part needs to be reconsidered to let the SBP function strictly in accordance with its Act and the practices prevalent in other countries of the world.