After 16 years: Mohmand gets banking again

Commercial bank reopened in the agency, blighted by poor law and order situation

GHALLANAI: Over 16 years after conventional banking closed its doors in Mohmand Agency owing to poor law and order situation, a bank reopened operations in the area on Thursday. The reopening was swiftly followed by announcements for launching the Prime Minister Youth Loan Scheme, soft loans for purchasing heavy machinery and installation of solar energy panels and an auto rickshaw scheme for poor pensioners. The National Bank of Pakistan opened a branch of its Islamic banking wing in Ghallanai, the headquarters of Mohmand Agency on Thursday. NBP President Saeed Ahmad said that NBP had conventional banking branches in Mohmand in the past but they had been closed for a while. After the restoration of peace, he said that the branch would help burgeon economic activities in the area.  

Published in The Express Tribune, February 2^nd, 2018.