PM approve five-year plan for enhanced National Financial Inclusion Strategy
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ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan approved five-year plan for enhanced National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) during a meeting held at the PM Office. The NFIS plan lays out the national vision, framework, action plan and targets for financial inclusion in the country.
The meeting was attended by Minister for Finance Asad Umar, Advisor to Prime Minister Dr. Ishrat Hussain, Secretary Finance Arif Ahmed Khan, Governor State Bank Tariq Bajwa and senior government officials.
The Prime Minister was informed that Pakistan had one of the lowest levels of financial inclusion till 2015. Only 16 percent of adult population had a bank account. The account ownership was even lower for women at 11 percent.
Besides, a large number of population remained voluntarily excluded due to their religious and other concerns. It was informed that financing to priority sectors of the economy i.e. agriculture, SMEs and housing have remained low due to less financial inclusion.
Governor State Bank Tariq Bajwa while briefing the Prime Minister about the future strategy for the next five years, said that enhancement of usage of digital payments, enhancement of deposit base, promotion of SMEs and agriculture finance and enhancement of share of Islamic Banking constituted main areas to broaden the existing levels of financial inclusion. It is envisioned that implementation of five years plan would translate into creation of three million jobs and additional exports of US$ 5.5 billion through enhanced access to finance to SMEs.
The plan also includes a strategy to increase the deposit base of banks to 55 percent of GDP and encourage higher savings. The Plan also envisages reduced income tax on income earned by commercial and microfinance banks on SMEs, Housing and underserved areas for priority sectors.
Governor State Bank also presented a detailed road-map with delineated timelines against each target being set under the Five Years National Financial Inclusion Strategy.
The Prime Minister appreciated the efforts being made towards broadening financial inclusion. He said that access to finance is critical to achieve sustainable and inclusive economic growth being prerequisite for equitable distribution of economic opportunities, poverty reduction and achieving financial stability.
The Prime Minister said that the five-year NFIS plan would facilitate citizens and the financial institutions, especially in priority sectors of economy and would thus help realizing the huge potential that existed in SMEs, agriculture and Islamic banking sector.
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