Smeda CEO meets SBP deputy governor to discuss SME financing

LAHORE - Hashim Raza, CEO of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA), in a meeting with Ms. Sima Kamil, Deputy Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), discussed modalities of the special initiatives proposed in the SME Policy for enhancing SMEs’ access to finance. The meeting was also attended the other senior SBP officials. Deputy Governor SBP said that SME sector is priority of the SBP, which has also been reflected in the recent SME financing schemes of the bank. She assured to extend the fullest cooperation in further improving the access to finance for SMEs. The initiatives introduced in the new SME policy in this regard would be looked after carefully, she added. CEO SMEDA Hashim Raza, while expressing his views on this occasion, highly applauded SBP’s efforts to help promote SME financing through banking industry. He acknowledged that the SBP’s conducive policies towards SME financing had encouraged SMEs to approach formal sector for meeting their financing needs. However, he said that the space for further ease for the SME financing is required in banking industry. It is notable that the annual borrowings of the SMEs stands at Rs.450 billion, which is only 6.5 percent of the total loans. The government borrowing is 55 per cent to 65 per cent and the remaining share is captured by the corporate, auto and housing sectors. The SME financing, in this scenario, falls at the lowest end and has a room for another chunk of about Rs.900 billion loans from the formal credit market.