Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb chaired the inaugural session of the Access to Finance Steering Committee, marking the official operational kickoff of the federal oversight mechanism for the Prime Minister’s Access to Finance Plan 2026–2028. The newly established committee is mandated to accelerate the flow of affordable financing into strategic national sectors, including small and medium-sized enterprises, agriculture, information technology, export-oriented ventures, renewable energy projects, and residential housing.
During the session, committee members conducted a comprehensive review of the strategic implementation roadmap, governance architecture, and specialized workstreams created to broaden financial inclusion, expand access to concessional credit, and reinforce institutional lending across high-priority market segments. Attendees evaluated operational progress across major government-backed concessionary financing programs, including the Zarkhez-e agricultural credit initiative, the Apna Ghar residential housing scheme, and the Pakistan Accelerated Vehicle Electrification program, which aims to incentivize affordable e-bikes and electric three-wheelers.
To maintain strict oversight, officials established a three-tier governance framework. The monitoring protocol includes monthly progress reports delivered directly to the Prime Minister, fortnightly review sessions led by the finance minister, and weekly working meetings conducted by sector-specific sub-committees. This administrative structure relies on resolution target dates, defined escalation pathways, structured reporting cycles, and a centralized performance monitoring dashboard designed to ensure operational transparency and enforcement across executing agencies.
Senator Aurangzeb emphasized that the Steering Committee will operate as the central platform for policy alignment, progress tracking, and rapid decision-making across government branches. He highlighted that the body will actively eliminate implementation bottlenecks, improve inter-agency coordination among financial regulators, banking entities, and administrative departments, and ensure the delivery of verifiable targets outlined under the national finance strategy.
The session also analyzed initial application, approval, and capital disbursement metrics associated with flagship financing facilities, while pinpointing field-level challenges requiring close collaboration with commercial banks. Members received detailed briefings on structural reforms designed to boost SME financing, including target metrics to increase total outstanding SME credit balances, expand the share of SME loans within overall commercial bank portfolios, and enlarge the active pool of SME borrowers. Additional planned measures feature the rollout of a standardized SME credit scoring mechanism, an Open Banking Framework, a centralized SME Digital Portal, seamless integration with credit reference bureaus, and targeted financing arrangements across critical industrial value chains.
Closing the meeting, the Finance Minister stressed that achieving the objectives of the Access to Finance Plan will require disciplined execution, operational accountability, and tight institutional synergy. He called for strict compliance with established project milestones and continuous tracking using objective, data-driven performance indicators. High-level attendees included Finance Secretary Imdadullah Bosal, State Bank of Pakistan Governor Jameel Ahmad, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan leadership, the Pakistan Banks’ Association chairman, the Karandaaz Pakistan chief executive officer, alongside senior officials from the Finance Division and financial regulatory bodies.
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