SME, agriculture financing needs faster execution: finance minister

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb urged financial institutions and implementing agencies to speed up lending under schemes for small businesses and farmers, Business Recorder reported on Wednesday. At the Access to Finance Steering Committee’s sixth meeting, officials reviewed SME, agriculture, housing and export financing, alongside programmes including Apna Ghar, Zarkhez-e and PAVE.

Outstanding SME credit stood at Rs1.148 trillion on October 23, 2026, while agricultural lending reached Rs1.329 trillion across about 3.5 million borrowers. Under Zarkhez-e, 6,132 collateral-free loans worth around Rs2.34 billion had been disbursed; Apna Ghar had delivered 15,584 loans worth approximately Rs91 billion. PAVE had disbursed 5,506 loans totalling Rs1.093 billion and delivered 3,263 electric vehicles, while the minister called for more effective implementation, particularly for SMEs and agriculture.