Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb chaired a high-level meeting on Tuesday to review progress on Pakistan’s initiative for un-collateralised credit to smallholding farmers. The meeting, held at the Finance Division, brought together representatives from commercial banks, DFIs, regulators, and development experts who form the core Task Force on Access to Finance.
The Task Force presented key recommendations under the National Subsistence Farmers Support Initiative, which aims to provide formal credit to small-scale farmers without traditional collateral. The programme relies on a tech-driven, end-to-end digital process to ensure transparency, efficiency, and user-friendly access.
A revised credit scorecard was introduced, prioritising agronomic factors (60%) over financial indicators (40%) to better reflect farming realities. The proposed model will be implemented via a multi-bank and microfinance delivery system to ensure standardisation and nationwide reach.
The minister called for swift action and also urged development of a parallel credit framework for the dairy and livestock sector, stressing a unified, inclusive, and technology-based approach to support rural economic and nutritional resilience.
