Askari Commercial Bank will open 28 new branches in the country of these, 8 will be exclusively dealing in Islamic banking. Shaharyar Ahmed President Askari Commercial Bank said this while addressing a meeting of Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA) here today.
He said that 122 existing branches of the Bank have already been revamped and have been linked under a modern and state of the art information technology system. This has been undertaken to meet the challenges of the modern time, he said. He described the textile sector as the backbone of national economy and said that Askari Commercial Bank would play its important role to promote the textile exports of the country and for this purposes would fulfil its responsibility regarding long term financing.
He suggested formation of an Opec type of international regulatory body to determine the prices of textile products world over. Regarding inflation he said that this was not an exclusive problem of Pakistan but frequent hikes in oil prices were influencing the domestic prices not only in Pakistan but also in leading countries of the world. He said presently the rate of inflation in the country was ranging between 7 to 8 percent and the managers of national economy had very few options to beat the inflation.
The only viable way-out of this crisis was administrative measures but here market forces have an open play. He further stated that the government was grappling with the problems but it is a long-term process. He assured that despite handicap Askari Commercial Bank would set in motion supportive measures for promotion of exports. In this respect a complete separate SME division is being established. He said microfinancing and SME Banking would facilitate individual entrepreneurs as well as smaller firms and institutions.
Earlier, welcoming the guest Mian Zahid Aslam Chairman Pakistan Textile Exporters Association highlighted the important role of the banking sector in promotion of exports and the stability of industry.
He emphasised the need for reducing the banking spread. Mian Zahid Aslam further emphasised the need for reducing the service charges of banking sector including documentation of various projects, export and clearing charges. At the end PTEA Insignia was presented to the guest by Mian Muhammad Latif Ex-Chairman PTEA.