Committee praises central bank's policy to empower women
The Special Committee on Gender
Mainstreaming has commended the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) for its
"Banking on Equality" Policy, which aims to close the gender gap in
financial inclusion and empower women economically. However, the committee has
urged SBP to ease account opening and loan provisions, particularly by removing
collateral requirements for women.
The 7th meeting of the committee was
held on Wednesday in Islamabad under the leadership of Dr. Nafisa Shah, MNA.
While acknowledging the SBP’s proactive steps towards financial inclusion for
women, committee members emphasized the need for more practical measures to
ensure women’s full participation in the formal economy.
A major barrier remains women’s
limited access to capital, and without collateral, they are often excluded from
financial services. The committee urged SBP to take concrete actions to provide
women with easier access to financial resources.
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In addition to financial access, the
committee called on the government to provide political backing to SBP’s
"Banking on Equality" initiative.
During the briefing, the SBP Deputy
Governor highlighted the progress made under the policy. Over 13,000 women have
been inducted into the banking sector, and the proportion of women in the financial
workforce has risen from 13% to 17%. Notably, the number of active women-owned
bank accounts has surged to 14.4 million, and the number of women borrowers
from microfinance banks has increased significantly—from 912,000 to 2.6
million.
He also shared the gender disparity
in financial inclusion, noting that 64% of Pakistan’s adult population holds a
formal bank account. However, only 47% of adult women have at least one bank
account compared to 81% of men, resulting in a 34% gender gap. SBP's recently
launched NFIS 2024-28 aims to raise financial inclusion to 75% by 2028 and
reduce the gender gap to 25%.
The committee recommended that SBP
focus on strengthening women-led micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs)
through concessional financing and capacity-building programs.
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In addition, the chairman of the
Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) provided an update on
steps to support women’s empowerment under the Prime Minister’s Women
Empowerment Package 2024. SECP has mandated that all listed companies disclose
gender pay gap data in their annual reports and is working to increase women’s
representation in the workforce from 28% to 40% by 2030. Furthermore, medium
and large-sized companies are now required to have at least one female director
on their boards, a move the committee praised as a positive step for women’s
empowerment.
The meeting was attended by MNAs
Aqeel Malik, Khawaja Izharul Hassan, Munaza Hassan, as well as Senators Rubina
Qaim Khani, Saadia Abbasi, Fawzia Arshad, and Khalida Ateeb, along with
officers from relevant ministries and divisions.
Source: Business Recorder