Banks directed to facilitate disabled people

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) would continue providing its full regulatory support to increase financial inclusion of persons with disabilities, affirmed SBP Governor Dr Reza Baqir.

During an online meeting with President Dr Arif Alvi, Baqir said if society did not provide appropriate support to persons with disabilities, it would lead to their economic disempowerment, depriving them of their independent economic and social lives.

He remarked that people with disabilities could economically support themselves and contribute towards society at large when provided with adequate education, rehabilitation, financial and moral support.

Baqir emphasised that a sizeable number of people with disabilities did have the required capacity to work and contribute to the mainstream economic activities and thus successfully support their families.

He urged banks to be cognisant of the gap and explore avenues to make inclusion of the untapped segment of the economy a reality.

Speaking on the occasion, Alvi said unavailability of concrete information about the number of people with disabilities was a major limitation to designing comprehensive plans to improve their quality of life.

He stated that the government was working with different stakeholders to have a better estimate of the number of people with disabilities, which would help in their identification and certification.

He appreciated the central bank’s efforts and performance of banks in improving the accessibility infrastructure at banks for people with disabilities and lauded their efforts for increasing financial inclusion of people with disabilities.

In particular, the president appreciated the establishment of a working group by the central bank for taking up the agenda. He, however, desired that timelines along with a clear vision must be clearly defined for the working group.

Alvi emphasised that such working groups may also be created at each bank. He stated that creating awareness of providing facilities for people with disabilities was highly necessary and social media could play an important role in that regard.

The president said the plight of people with disabilities had become even more critical during the prevailing Covid19 crisis that was deepening pre-existing inequalities.

He appreciated the SBP’s specific role in taking a number of measures to cushion the negative economic impact on individuals, businesses and banking institutions.

“The central bank’s successful measures have reduced the negative impact of Covid-19 on economic growth, employment generation and at the same time ensured that the banking and payment systems remain healthy,” he added.

During the meeting, the SBP presented an update on different action items decided in its last meeting with the president.

The action items included accessible infrastructure at the entrance of all bank branches and ATM cabins, availability of forms and documents in braille for basic banking services, accessibility audit of bank branches by the SBP and allocation of credit targets for the SBP refinance schemes for SMEs and low-cost housing finance.