Lahore: The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) has held a series of consultations with the State Bank of Pakistan and provincial stakeholders to examine ways of improving access to finance for small and medium enterprises, particularly in underserved regions of the country.
The meetings focused on Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan, with discussions centred on the current financing landscape, regional disparities, and the need for more tailored support mechanisms for SMEs.
According to SMEDA Chief Executive Officer Nadia Jahangir Seth, the consultations were aimed at gathering input from institutions across Pakistan to help provincial governments and financial bodies develop financing programmes suited to local conditions. She said the exercise also sought to draw lessons from existing provincial experiences, including blended finance approaches used elsewhere in the country.
The discussions were held following directions to strengthen coordination on SME credit expansion, especially for businesses operating in areas where financial access remains limited. Officials said the broader objective was to support SMEs as part of national economic development efforts.
During the consultations, SMEDA highlighted its role in supporting the SME ecosystem through business facilitation, financial literacy, training, and sectoral studies. Seth said that while SMEDA could help address demand-side constraints, stronger institutional ownership from provincial governments and financial institutions would be necessary to achieve meaningful progress.
Representatives of the State Bank of Pakistan gave an overview of the current state of SME financing in different regions. Officials said SME financing in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa stands at Rs30.48 billion with more than 9,500 borrowers, while Balochistan accounts for Rs7.19 billion with 2,412 borrowers. In Gilgit-Baltistan, financing stands at Rs3.96 billion with 1,960 borrowers, while Azad Jammu and Kashmir accounts for Rs5.48 billion.
Participants also reviewed financing trends in Sindh, where discussions noted an increase in outstanding loans and the borrower base. The Sindh Enterprise Development Fund was cited during the meeting as one of the programmes that has supported enterprise and microloan activity in the province over the past 15 years.
Officials from the banking sector also pointed to regulatory changes intended to ease access to finance. During the consultations, State Bank representatives noted that revised Prudential Regulations now allow clean lending of up to Rs50 million, which they said could make financing more accessible for eligible borrowers.
Participants identified a number of continuing challenges, including declining borrower numbers in some areas, uneven geographic access, and low digital literacy, all of which were seen as obstacles to broader SME inclusion. The meetings emphasised that regional conditions differ substantially and that financing responses would need to reflect those differences rather than rely on a single uniform model.
The consultations concluded with a call for closer cooperation among entrepreneurs, business associations, banks, development finance institutions, and provincial governments to strengthen SME financing frameworks and support economic participation across Pakistan.
