ISLAMABAD
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif was informed on Friday that loans worth Rs426 billion had so far been approved under the Prime Minister’s Apna Ghar Programme, of which Rs76 billion had been disbursed against a financing target of Rs 700 billion set under the programme to support the construction and provision of 125,000 housing units.
The prime minister, while chairing a meeting with a delegation of presidents and chief executive officers of various commercial banks, emphasised the need to reduce the gap between loan approvals and actual disbursements, stating that citizens would benefit from the programme only when the approved funds reached them in a timely manner.
He was told that consultations were underway on a framework to facilitate developers’ access to financing.
Regarding the SME sector, it was informed in the meeting that loans totalling Rs1,137 billion had been provided to approximately 350,862 business owners.
The meeting was further informed that target of the volume of SME lending was being increased to Rs1,500 billion and the number of beneficiaries to 565,000 by June 2027. The meeting was further informed that the total volume of agricultural loans had reached Rs1,352 billion by the end of September 2026, benefiting 3,455,313 individuals.
The government aims to increase agricultural lending to Rs1,500 billion and expand the number of beneficiary farmers to 4.5 million by June 2027.
During the meeting, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met the heads of the country’s ten leading commercial banks and thanked the banking sector for its support in helping citizens own homes, providing financial resources to small businesses and enhancing farmers’ productive capacity.
The prime minister, appreciating the efforts of banks demonstrating outstanding performance in providing financing for the Prime Minister’s Apna Ghar Programme, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and the agricultural sector, said that Small and medium-sized enterprises were the backbone of Pakistan’s economy, and their growth will create new employment opportunities and promote economic activity.
He said the government had launched these initiatives to provide ordinary citizens, business owners and farmers with access to financial resources.
Improved lending to SMEs, the housing sector and agriculture would promote employment, investment, productivity and overall economic growth, he added.
The prime minister directed the State Bank of Pakistan to further simplify the loan approval and disbursement process to remove obstacles to financing and enable more citizens to benefit from these schemes.
