Govt targets Rs3.7 trillion in housing, agriculture, SME loans as PM pushes banks to expand lending

According to Profit by Pakistan Today, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has pressed banks to increase credit to growers, small enterprises and people planning to buy homes. The authorities are targeting Rs3.7 trillion in combined financing across those three sectors. Lenders with unsatisfactory records were instructed to raise their performance so they can access government incentives.

Officials told the meeting that 75,198 applicants have been cleared for Rs448 billion under the Apna Ghar housing scheme, and Rs76 billion has reached 14,000 beneficiaries. Banks have been given a Rs700 billion target for 125,000 housing units this year. Housing loan processing now takes 15 working days at most, and the number of required documents fell from 25 to five.

The farm portfolio now totals Rs1.352 trillion across 3.455 million borrowers, and the government wants to lift that to Rs1.5 trillion and 4.5 million beneficiaries by June 2027. Loans worth Rs1.137 trillion have gone to more than 352,000 SMEs, and the target is Rs1.5 trillion covering 575,000 firms by June 2027. Allied Bank was also cited for its loans against stored produce, and the prime minister backed its plan to invest in an SME park.