ISLAMABAD: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a loan of $350 million to support access to finance for women in Pakistan.
The funding will support the second phase of the Women-Inclusive Finance Sector Development Program, which includes a $300 million policy-based loan and a $50 million financial intermediation loan designed to fund credit facilities and guarantees that support women’s entrepreneurship through improving their access to finance, according to press release issued by ADB.
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“The program is ambitious with a goal to reach out to over 2 million women in Pakistan to help them fulfill their potential, through a combination of access to finance, inclusive legal and policy reforms, and expanding capacity for entrepreneurship,” said ADB Director Sani Ismail.
The program is aligned with the government of Pakistan’s Country Partnership Strategy 2021–2025 to boost the representation of women in the economy.
Women remain underrepresented in Pakistan’s economy, which has the second-lowest ranking among 146 economies in the Global Gender Gap Index in 2024.
A key requirement to include women in the economic development of the country is to reduce the ever-expanding gap in access to finance which currently stands at 37% in 2024, it added.
