ISLAMABAD: The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has provided a $10 million loan to ASA Microfinance Bank (Pakistan) Limited to expand access to finance for women entrepreneurs and microbusinesses across the country.
The four-year financing will provide the bank with additional liquidity to increase lending to women borrowers and support the continued growth and strengthening of its operations.
The investment is supported by the International Development Association Private Sector Window Blended Finance Facility and will be processed under IFC’s MSME Finance Platform.
The platform supports financial institutions that provide financing to micro, small and medium-sized businesses in emerging markets.
The new funding is expected to help ASA Microfinance Bank expand its outreach to underserved borrowers, particularly women entrepreneurs and small businesses that face difficulties accessing formal financing.
The investment comes as access to formal financial services remains limited in Pakistan.
According to the figures cited with the investment, only 27 percent of Pakistani adults have access to a bank account. Meanwhile, the financing gap for the country’s micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) is estimated at around $57.8 billion, equivalent to approximately 20 percent of GDP.
Around 39 percent of MSMEs are considered credit constrained, highlighting the challenges faced by small businesses in securing the financing needed to expand their operations.
Women face an even wider gap in access to formal financial services, with the share of women having access to a formal account 30.4 percentage points lower than that of men.
Alongside the financing, IFC will provide advisory services to ASA Microfinance Bank to improve its gender-disaggregated data reporting systems and practices.
The initiative is aimed at helping the bank better understand the financial needs of women borrowers and improve the way it designs and delivers financial services to them.
The investment is expected to strengthen access to finance for women entrepreneurs and microbusinesses while supporting broader financial inclusion in Pakistan.
