ISLAMABAD: Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) President Muzzamil Hussain Sabri has said that there is need to introduce more credit guarantee schemes for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to enable them achieve rapid growth and contribute more effectively in improving the economy as their lending ration in Pakistan is just 6 per cent of the total banks’ lending.
Muzzamil Hussain Sabri said this while addressing a consultative workshop jointly organised by UNIDO and Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (Smeda) in collaboration with ICCI on ‘Credit Guarantee Scheme for SMEs in Pakistan’.
The representatives of various banks and large number of SMEs representatives attended the event. He said that SMEs were contributing 40% to country’s GDP and generating more than 70 percent employment in non-agriculture sector, but were facing problems in easy access to finance. He also stressed that SBP should introduce more credit guarantee schemes for SMEs so that banks could feel confident in lending to SMEs for business growth.
The ICCI president thanked UNIDO and Smeda for organizing this important workshop and assured that ICCI would continue to work with them on the future initiatives aimed at facilitating the growth of SMEs. Muhammad Alamgir Chaudhry, Chief Executive Officer, Smeda said 80,000 SMEs approached his organization for business support out of which 27 percent contacted for access to finance.
