PM calls for easier loans, export access for small businesses

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday chaired a meeting to review government initiatives aimed at developing small and medium enterprises (SMEs), with officials briefing him on progress made by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority on implementing reform measures.

Sharif said that SMEs held significant potential for boosting Pakistan’s economic growth and exports, and welcomed efforts by SMEDA to expand access to easy loans, digital financing, formal economic inclusion and export markets.

He directed authorities to present a time-bound implementation plan with achievable targets and asked commercial banks to improve lending facilities for SMEs.

The prime minister also called for agriculture-related processing sectors to be granted SME status and stressed the need to improve women entrepreneurs’ access to financing and export opportunities.

Officials from SMEDA, the industries ministry and the State Bank of Pakistan briefed the meeting on measures being implemented across eight strategic sectors under a broader SME development plan.

The meeting was told that SMEDA was pursuing 48 initiatives aimed at achieving phased growth targets over the next two to four years, including expanding market access through exhibitions and roadshows, strengthening industrial value chains and establishing an SME database to support formal sector inclusion.

State Bank Governor Jameel Ahmad said that private sector lending reached Rs1.1 trillion in the last fiscal year, while lending during the first three quarters of the current fiscal year had already exceeded the target of 904 billion rupees.

He said loans to SMEs had increased by 28 per cent, prompting authorities to raise the SME financing target from Rs1.1 trillion rupees to Rs1.5 trillion by fiscal year 2028.

Officials also informed the meeting that a dedicated export financing window had been established for SMEs, leading to 41 new enterprises joining the programme.

Sharif praised Special Assistant Haroon Akhtar, the SMEDA team and the industries ministry for their efforts, and directed them to prepare a comprehensive roadmap for implementation of the reform measures.