Anjum Nisar asks SBP to notify ECC-approved risk coverage plan without delay
ISLAMABAD, AUG 31 /DNA/ – The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry’s Businessmen Panel (BMP) has welcomed the Economic Coordination Committee’s (ECC) decision to approve the Risk Coverage Scheme for small farmers and underserved areas, urging the State Bank of Pakistan to notify the scheme without any further delay.
FPCCI former president and BMP Chairman Mian Anjum Nisar said the approval was an important step toward correcting a long-standing imbalance in agricultural credit distribution where the bulk of financing continues to be consumed by large landholders in Punjab and Sindh, leaving millions of small farmers in other provinces struggling for survival.
Anjum Nisar pointed out that small farmers make up more than 93 percent of the country’s agricultural borrowers, yet they receive only 32 percent of total agri-credit disbursements. In contrast, the large farmers, who represent a mere 7 percent of borrowers, corner 68 percent of the lending. He said this disparity not only worsens rural poverty but also deprives the national economy of the full potential of agriculture, which remains the backbone of Pakistan’s livelihood and food security.
Quoting figures shared during the ECC meeting, the FPCCI leader said that currently 97 percent of agriculture financing is concentrated in Punjab and Sindh, while only 3 percent trickles down to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. He stressed that this imbalance must be corrected, especially as farmers in these underserved areas are already facing multiple shocks, from climate change to poor infrastructure and market access. “If agriculture credit continues to bypass them, the inequality between provinces will only deepen, creating long-term socio-economic instability,” he warned.
The BMP Chairman said the ECC had rightly recognized that the proposed scheme should cover not just small and subsistence farmers in Punjab and Sindh but also all farmers in the underserved provinces, since their share of credit disbursements is already negligible. According to the Finance Division’s briefing, the scheme has the potential to bring 750,000 new borrowers into the fold within the next three years. Nisar described this as a positive development but cautioned that the success of the plan will depend on the seriousness with which SBP and commercial banks implement it.
He called upon the government to go one step further and announce parallel credit facilities for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that have been devastated by recent floods. “It is not only the farmers who have lost crops, livestock and assets to the floods,” he said, “but also the SMEs in rural and urban centers who form the backbone of employment generation. Unless the government provides them with special credit windows, concessional financing and risk protection, thousands of businesses will be wiped out, leaving behind unemployment and despair.”
Anjum Nisar urged policymakers to adopt a holistic approach, noting that agriculture and SMEs are deeply linked. A large share of SMEs are engaged in agri-processing, transport, inputs, and rural trade, and their collapse would further depress the rural economy. “If we focus only on large industries and ignore the grassroots producers and small businesses, there will be no sustainable recovery. A national growth strategy has to be inclusive,” he stressed.
The FPCCI leader also reminded the government of its responsibility to fully take care of the flood victims, who not only lost their crops but also their homes and livelihoods. He said relief measures must go beyond temporary food packages and shelters, and should include financial support that enables victims to rebuild their economic base. “The country cannot afford another cycle of migration, poverty and disease in the flood-affected areas. People need to be rehabilitated in their own communities with access to credit, inputs, and markets,” he said.
Mian Anjum Nisar appealed to the ECC, SBP and the Finance Division to design special products that are simple, accessible and tailored to the needs of small farmers and SMEs. He said collateral-free lending, partial credit guarantees, and subsidized insurance must form part of the package so that the most vulnerable groups are not left at the mercy of informal moneylenders. “Experience shows that without proper risk coverage, commercial banks shy away from extending credit to small borrowers. The newly approved scheme is a good beginning, but it has to be broadened and backed with full political will,” he said.
He further said that in the aftermath of floods and natural disasters, Pakistan requires a stronger disaster-resilient financing system where quick disbursement of loans, grants and insurance payouts can prevent economic collapse in vulnerable regions. He called on the government to learn from global best practices where targeted credit programs and crop insurance schemes have saved millions from falling into extreme poverty.
The FPCCI’s Businessmen Panel is committed to supporting the government in designing such initiatives and will continue to voice the concerns of small farmers, traders and SMEs. Anjum Nisar emphasized that equitable access to credit is not merely a matter of fairness but of national survival. “Agriculture ensures our food security, SMEs generate employment, and together they keep the economic engine running. Ignoring them, especially in times of crisis, will be a grave mistake,” he warned.
