Governor SBP apprises President Alvi on measures for differently abled persons

The Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Dr Reza Baqir on Fridays informed the President Dr Arif Alvi that SBP is initiating two credit scheme for the differently abled persons in Pakistan.

In a meeting with President Dr Arif Alvi, the governor SBP said, “two credit schemes supported by SBP for the financial inclusion of differently abled persons. The first is the Small Enterprise Financing and Credit Guarantee Scheme, which is available to differently abled persons holding CNIC with a special logo/symbol for setting up new business enterprises or for expansion of existing ones at a subsidized financing rate of 5% per annum for the tenor of 5 years including grace period of up to 6 months.”

“The second SBP scheme is Financing Facility of Low Cost Housing for Special Segments including differently abled persons that provides subsidized loans to widows, children of Shaheed, transgender, special persons and persons in the areas severely affected by war against terrorism. Under the scheme, special segments can avail subsidized financing at 5% per annum, for the tenor of 12.5 years including grace period of up to 6 months,” he added.

President Dr. Arif Alvi visited SBP for a roundtable discussion on financial Inclusion of differently abled persons hosted by governor SBP, Dr. Reza Baqir. Senior officials of SBP, Presidents and CEOs of Banks and representatives of Network of Organizations Working for People with Disabilities, Pakistan (NOWPDP) also participated in this roundtable discussion.

Governor SBP, Dr. Reza Baqir welcomed the President and gave a detailed presentation on the two types of interventions by SBP for the differently abled persons.  These include initiatives taken by SBP to facilitate the differently abled persons for accessing banking premises and services and, providing access to finance through various SBP refinance schemes.

He informed the President about the regulatory instructions for the banks by SBP and its own initiatives to address the problems faced by different categories of differently abled persons and their progress since 2018.

President Arif Alvi appreciated the initiatives taken by SBP for the differently abled persons and the way forward suggested by the Governor SBP to progress further in this regard. He urged the banking sector to come up with some innovative workable ideas and plans to economically empower this particular segment of society, particularly the women among them. Further, he urged the banks to play their role in training and capacity building, apart from making efforts in provision of financial services and access to finance for differently abled persons.

In the end, the Governor thanked the Honorable President for his visit of SBP and his keen interest for facilitating the differently abled persons through banking services and assured him that SBP will continue to work in this regard along with banking sector.

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