Housing, agriculture, SMEs drive Pakistan’s access to finance push

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb presided over a fortnightly session of the Access to Finance Steering Committee, which reviewed initiatives to widen affordable lending in housing, farming, small firms, exports, IT and renewable energy. According to Mettis Global, housing finance has reached Rs307bn by mid-August, up from roughly Rs294 billion in June. Applications under the Wazir-e-Azam Apna Ghar Program grew 52% to almost 139,000, and approvals reached over 46,000 after an 84% rise.

Approved housing financing nearly doubled, moving from Rs144bn to Rs279bn. Loans disbursed climbed 59% to over 7,600, and total disbursements passed Rs38bn. The State Bank's revised Prudential Regulations for housing finance, including a 90:10 loan-to-value ratio and a 65% debt-burden ratio, are supporting the expansion. The committee also cited the Financial Institutions (Recovery of Finances) (Amendment) Act, 2026, as a structural reform that should make recovery more predictable and lift lender confidence.

Agriculture borrowers rose from about 3.26m to 3.37m, adding nearly 115,000, while total agriculture financing held near Rs1.26tr. Formal SME financing stands at about Rs1.05tr across roughly 330,000 businesses. Under the Performance Based Rebate on Incremental Exports, effective from July 1, 2026, exporters growing up to 10% receive 1% on added exports, while those above 10% get 2%. The Pakistan Accelerated Vehicle Electrification Programme has drawn over 83,000 applications, while electric vehicle deliveries grew from 471 to beyond 1,500.