State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the central banking authority in Pakistan, recently announced its launch of a GBP 10 million (USD 16 million) “Financial Innovation Fund” that aims to encourage innovations in financial products and delivery channels for financial services.
Yaseen Anwar, the deputy governor of SBP, reportedly said that SBP would continue to work towards bringing microfinance into the formal banking system as part of its objective of financial inclusion and that “institutional development” was important for the sustainable growth of microfinance. Mr Anwar is of the view that the transformation of a rural poverty alleviation initiative, the National Rural Support Programme (NRSP), into a microfinance bank, will bring other services such as deposits and remittances to the rural areas of Pakistan [1].
Previous initiatives of SBP include the GBP 10 million (USD 16 million) Institutional Strengthening Fund, which aims to build human resource and institutional capacity of microfinance banks; the Improving Access to Financial Services Fund (IAFSF), which is aimed at improving financial literacy amongst exiting and potential microfinance clients; and the GBP 10 million (USD 16 million) Microfinance Credit Guarantee Facility, which reportedly helped mobilize approximately PKR 2 billion (USD 23 million) of funds from commercial banks into microfinance.
By Medha Ravi, Research Associate
About State Bank of Pakistan (SBP):
Established in 1956, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is the nation’s central banking authority. SBP performs the following primary functions: to regulate and supervise the nation’s financial system, to carry out monetary policy and to manage public debt. In addition, SBP performs the following non-traditional functions: to develop the financial framework of the country, to provide credit to priority sectors and to help in the Islamization of the banking system.
About National Rural Support Program Microfinance Bank (NRSP MF Bank):
National Rural Support Program Microfinance Bank (NRSP MF Bank) is a microfinance bank based in Islamabad, Pakistan. It is the licensed banking arm of National Rural Support Program (NRSP), a microfinance institution (MFI) founded in 1991 in Islamabad that offers microcredit, microsavings and microinsurance products to the nation’s poor. The bank operates in 46 districts in Pakistan and has approximately 576,000 active borrowers. As of 2009, NRSP reported total assets of USD 81.5 million, return on assets (ROA) of 2.31 percent and return on equity (ROE) of 16.3 percent.
Source and Resources:
[1] Business Recorder news article, “SBP to launch pound 10m financial innovation challenge fund”, http://www.brecorder.com/top-news/1-front-top-news/6751-sbp-to-launch-p10m-financial-innovation-challenge-fund.html
MicroCapital.org story, December 6, 2010, “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Pakistan, Cambodia and Philippines Top Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU) Ranking of Microfinance Regulatory Frameworks”, https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-pakistan-cambodia-and-philippines-top-economic-intelligence-unit-eiu-ranking-of-microfinance-regulatory-frameworks/
MicroCapital.org story, December 3, 2010, “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Increases Minimum Capital Requirement for Microfinance Banks”, https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-state-bank-of-pakistan-sbp-increases-minimum-capital-requirement-for-microfinance-banks/
MicroCapital.org article, November 17, 2010, “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Aims to Ensure Sustainable Development of Microfinance Industry”, https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-state-bank-of-pakistan-sbp-aims-to-ensure-sustainable-development-of-microfinance-industry/
MicroCapital’s Microfinance Universe profile: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=State+Bank+of+Pakistan+(SBP)
MicroCapital’s Microfinance Universe profile: National Rural Support Program Microfinance Bank (NRSP MF Bank), https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=National+Rural+Support+Program+Microfinance+Bank+(NRSP+MF+Bank)
Browse the MicroCapital Universe and add your entry to the wiki at: https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/
Similar Posts:
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: HugoBank, KT, Mashreq, Raqami Islamic, Telenor Microfinance Earn Regulatory Approval to Pilot Digital Banking Services in Pakistan
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: QR Codes to Facilitate Retail Payments Across Cambodia-Laos Border
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Elm of Saudi Arabia Partners with IrisGuard to Bring Biometric Identification to Government-to-person (G2P) Payments in Africa, Asia
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Vanuatu Launches Vanklia System to Automate Large, Small Payments
- SPECIAL REPORT: The Impact of Digital Financial Inclusion on Global Development
