Revival of industries: ‘Pakistan needs intelligent initiatives’

KARACHI: Ateeq-ur-Rehman Economic and Financial Analyst has said that Pakistan need intelligent initiatives, plan and targets for revival of our shrinking industries, declining manufacturing and enormously expanding the trade gaps almost with every country in the world, also. The following bottlenecks are devastating industrial productivity, high policy rates, high energy tariffs, elevated petroleum prices, reliance heavily on imported raw material and chemicals, tremendous rise in shipping cost and expensive loans with heavy cost of credit. The financial assistance on easy terms by the financial institutions / banks and upcoming digital banks to production line is eminent for the further growth of economy as we cannot continue with 24- 25 pc shrinking industries, large trade deficits and with a heavy balance of payment crisis said Ateeq. There is a great need of mortgage financing with secure source of long term funding and attractive rates for individuals and every house hold. Government and financial institutions is requested for serious consideration of this aspect of lucrative and productive financial mode. He appreciated Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s direction to the financial institutions / banks to expand and boost lending for agriculture, SMEs, housing sector. As the agriculture is the backbone of our country, economy and its development. Farmers and peasants, requires continuous and uninterrupted access to finance on easy terms, always. The latest example is the bumper cotton crop, which driven by exceptionally favourable weather and supported by authorities, the cotton arrivals surged unexpectedly by 27 percent to nearly 1. 7 million bales as of August 31 2026, significantly improving crop quality and reducing reliance on imports said Ateeq ur Rehman (economic and financial analyst). Easy access to finance for the need of affordable housing particularly for low and middle income groups is going to be a brilliant move. People who are traditionally excluded from formal banking can gain access to structured housing finance. Families can move from informal or inadequate housing into safer and more secure homes. Greater access to ownership can reduce the long term burden of continuously rising rental costs. Thus, a home shall become a long term family asset and can improve household financial security. The SMEs with a largest size of 82 percent of our total economy are said to be the main participants of the economy by contributing 45 percent share in the GDP as a whole, including the main lot of vendors, shopkeepers, traders, importers, exporters and middle man, etc. In our country and in the past SMEs have been neglected, constantly, there has been problems with their “limited access to credit” and “heavy cost of borrowing” he added. The cost of credit is not only expensive but borrowing is as difficult as a “hard nut to crack”. We have seen that banks have never preserved separately and allocated funds for their credit line and financing of SMEs. Lengthy procedures for registration, licensing and compliances were an excessive bureaucratic approach that was routine of the day. Now, the initiative by the government would encourage institutions that actively supported these areas. The “access to finance plan 2026-28” is a great initiative, it is said that the lending to SMEs stood at Rs. 1. 067 trillion with a target of Rs. 2 trillion by June 2028. Copyright Business Recorder, 2026

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