HomeNet, SBP join hands to boost women entrepreneurs’ financial inclusion

According to Mettis Global, HomeNet Pakistan teamed up with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) for a policy discussion in Karachi on September 10, 2026. The session aimed to strengthen economic opportunities for women micro-entrepreneurs and bring them into the formal economy. Commercial and microfinance banks, SMEDA and other stakeholders took part in the event, where HomeNet Pakistan Executive Director Ume Laila Azhar urged lenders, regulators and women business owners on the ground to coordinate more closely.

SBP Additional Director Imran Ahmad, delivering the keynote, described central bank policies, financial products and measures meant to ease women's use of regulated finance. Ume Laila Azhar then shared lessons from the Business Booster Loan and Trainings scheme known as FBLT, which reached 500 women running informal businesses in Lahore and Karachi through capacity building and wider financial access. The Women Informal Entrepreneurs Bottleneck Study was also presented, flagging hurdles that include awareness and affordability of financial services for women.

Representatives of Faysal Bank, Bank Alfalah, HBL, HBL Microfinance Bank, U Bank, Mobilink Bank, National Bank of Pakistan, SMEDA and SBP sat in on a roundtable on widening financial inclusion. Participants pressed for joint action by regulators, lenders, development agencies and local stakeholders, and stressed financial and digital literacy, tailored products and business development assistance.