Pakistan is expanding efforts to improve access to affordable and inclusive financing across housing, agriculture, small and medium-sized enterprises, exports, information technology and renewable energy, as the government seeks to direct a larger share of the financial sector towards productive economic activity.
Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb chaired a fortnightly meeting of the Access to Finance Steering Committee, where officials reviewed progress on multiple financing initiatives and related legal, regulatory and institutional reforms. The meeting noted developments across several programmes since the end of fiscal year 2026, with particular attention given to housing, agricultural lending, SME financing, exports and electric vehicle financing.
Muhammad Aurangzeb said the government wants financial sector capacity to support productive investment, business creation, home ownership, agricultural development and export growth. He said expanding access to financing is part of efforts to encourage private-sector-led economic activity while ensuring that households and businesses have greater access to formal financial services.
Housing finance was among the areas showing notable growth. Total housing finance increased from around Rs294 billion at the end of June to Rs307 billion by mid-August. Under the Wazir-e-Azam Apna Ghar Program Ghar Ho To Apna, applications increased by 52 percent since June, reaching nearly 139,000. Approvals rose by 84 percent to more than 46,000 during the same period.
Approved financing under the programme almost doubled from Rs144 billion to Rs279 billion, while the number of loans disbursed increased by 59 percent to more than 7,600. Total disbursements exceeded Rs38 billion. The increase in housing finance is being supported by regulatory changes introduced through revised Prudential Regulations for Housing Finance issued by the State Bank of Pakistan.
The revised framework includes a 90:10 loan-to-value ratio and a 65 percent debt-burden ratio. It also provides models for assessing informal income, simplified property valuation and documentation procedures, greater digitalisation and longer financing tenors. These changes are intended to make mortgage financing more accessible to a wider range of borrowers.
The committee also highlighted the Financial Institutions (Recovery of Finances) (Amendment) Act, 2026, as an important structural reform for mortgage-based lending. A more predictable recovery and enforcement mechanism is expected to strengthen lenders’ confidence and support greater availability of housing finance. The committee also stressed that the housing and construction sector needs to increase the supply of quality and affordable homes as demand for mortgage financing grows.
Greater activity in housing and construction could generate wider economic activity across construction companies, cement manufacturers, building material suppliers, allied industries and SMEs. It could also contribute to employment creation and increased demand across related sectors.
Agricultural financing was another major focus of the meeting. The number of agriculture borrowers increased from around 3.26 million at the end of June to 3.37 million by mid-August, adding approximately 115,000 borrowers. Total agriculture financing remained close to Rs1.26 trillion.
Under the Zarkhez-e-Asaan Zarai Qarza scheme, more than 58,000 farmers have registered for uncollateralised financing aimed primarily at helping smallholder and tenant farmers purchase agricultural inputs. Bank approvals under the programme increased by around 12 percent since June to nearly 16,700, while approved financing limits exceeded Rs7.2 billion.
Loan disbursements under the agricultural scheme also increased by around 13 percent to nearly 5,000. The committee stressed that applications and approvals need to be converted into actual financing more quickly so that farmers can use the funds to improve agricultural productivity, strengthen rural incomes and increase participation in the formal financial system.
SME financing also remained a key component of the government’s access-to-finance agenda. Formal financing to small and medium-sized enterprises stood at approximately Rs1.05 trillion, benefiting around 330,000 businesses. The committee reviewed a credit-scoring pilot being conducted across 13 banks, which is designed to improve credit assessments through proxy and alternative methods for evaluating business cash flows.
The credit-scoring initiative could help expand financing beyond traditional collateral-based lending by allowing banks to assess businesses through additional financial indicators. The government’s medium-term targets are to increase both agriculture and SME financing to Rs1.5 trillion by June 2027 and Rs2 trillion by June 2028, alongside substantial growth in the number of borrowers.
The committee also reviewed financing measures linked to the government’s export-led growth strategy. These include enhanced financing and refinancing facilities for exporters and SMEs to improve access to working capital and long-term investment funding.
The Performance Based Rebate on Incremental Exports became effective on July 1, 2026. Under the scheme, exporters achieving growth of up to 10 percent are eligible for a 1 percent rebate on incremental exports, while exporters recording growth above 10 percent can receive a 2 percent rebate.
The committee also emphasized improving access to bank financing for export-oriented SMEs through facilities administered by the Export-Import Bank of Pakistan. Muhammad Aurangzeb said SME financing, export refinancing, long-term investment funding and performance-based incentives should operate together to help businesses expand capacity, improve competitiveness and increase export and foreign-exchange earnings.
Progress under the Pakistan Accelerated Vehicle Electrification Programme was also reviewed. By mid-August, the programme had received more than 83,000 applications, with around 15,800 approved and nearly 4,000 loans disbursed. Since June, approvals increased by approximately 24 percent, while loan disbursements rose by 34 percent.
Electric vehicle deliveries under the programme increased significantly, rising from 471 to more than 1,500. The committee also reviewed progress on the Prime Minister’s online digital housing portal and called for stronger coordination between relevant institutions to simplify the financing process.
Muhammad Aurangzeb said the Access to Finance initiative should operate as an integrated economic-enablement framework combining legal and regulatory reforms, digitalisation, improved credit assessment, targeted financing, risk-sharing mechanisms, refinancing facilities and performance-based incentives.
He directed regular bank-wise monitoring of financing, borrower growth, approvals and disbursements. Implementation bottlenecks are to be presented before the Steering Committee for timely resolution. The Finance Minister also called for greater public awareness so that farmers, SMEs, exporters, prospective homeowners and entrepreneurs understand the financing opportunities available to them.
The government’s broader objective is to expand access to economic opportunities by enabling households and businesses to purchase homes, expand farms and enterprises, invest in productive capacity, increase output and compete in international markets. The expansion of financing across housing, agriculture, SMEs, exports and electric vehicles is expected to support investment, employment and broader economic activity.
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