Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has urged banks to expand agricultural financing and improve access to loans for small farmers, as Pakistan targets Rs. 1.5 trillion in agricultural loans by June 2027.
The prime minister made the remarks during a meeting with heads of the country’s 10 major commercial banks in Islamabad.
The meeting reviewed progress under the Prime Minister’s Apna Ghar Program, lending to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and agricultural financing. Shehbaz praised banks for their efforts to expand lending in these priority sectors, saying improved access to finance would support employment, investment, production, and economic growth.
According to a briefing, agricultural loans reached Rs. 1,352 billion by the end of September 2026, benefiting 3,455,313 people. The government has set a target of increasing agricultural lending to Rs. 1,500 billion and expanding the number of beneficiary farmers to 4.5 million by June 2027.
The prime minister emphasized that agricultural financing was essential to improving farmers’ livelihoods, increasing crop production, and strengthening food security.
He called for prioritizing small farmers so they could adopt modern farming practices and improve productivity, adding that major banks should also serve small farmers.
The meeting was also briefed that loans worth Rs. 426 billion had been approved under the Apna Ghar Program, of which Rs. 76 billion had been disbursed. For fiscal year 2026 to 2027, the program aims to provide Rs. 700 billion in financing for the construction and delivery of 125,000 housing units.
Shehbaz called for narrowing the gap between loan approvals and disbursements to ensure timely delivery of funds to beneficiaries. Consultations are also underway on a framework to improve developers’ access to financing.
In the SME sector, approximately 350,862 business owners have received loans totaling Rs. 1,137 billion. The target for June 2027 is to increase lending to Rs. 1,500 billion and the number of beneficiaries to 565,000.
The prime minister said SMEs were the backbone of Pakistan’s economy and that their growth would create jobs and stimulate economic activity.
The bank representatives praised the prime minister’s leadership in supporting economic stability and expressed confidence in the government’s economic policies. They said their cooperation with the government to expand lending in priority sectors was being strengthened.
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