Muhammmad Kamran Shehzad, Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has stressed the need for close co-operation amongst all the key stakeholders for economic development of the country. Speaking at the Gujrat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) here on Thursday he said, "State Bank, commercial banks and the business community should work towards a common goal of economic growth and prosperity of the people of Pakistan."
He said that Gujrat was one of the important SME and agricultural hubs of the country and added that the State Bank recognises the crucial role being played by Gujrat-based businessmen in the overall economic development of the country. SBP Deputy Governor outlined some of the important initiatives taken by SBP to facilitate greater flow of credit to the SME sector.
He informed the participants that SBP, under its Financial Inclusion Programme with the UK Department for International Development (DFID), was initiating a project for launching Credit Guarantee Scheme in Pakistan to share risks with the lending institutions and meet funding needs of Small and Rural Enterprises. Similarly, in order to improve the flow of financing to SMEs indicative targets for SME Finance are assigned to banks, which serve as an important benchmark to measure the banks' performance in terms of increased SME portfolio.
Shehzad said that for improving bankers' capacity to serve the SME sector, SBP has been conducting training programmes with greater participation from regional SME bankers. He also talked about establishment of Development Finance Support Department (DFSD) at SBP Banking Services Corporation and its field units at SBPBSC Offices for continuous interaction with stakeholders at grassroots level. He said SBP was also conducting several awareness and information dissemination programmes in collaboration with banks to bring bankers and the business community closer.-PR