ADB approves $155m for women’s access to finance

Comprises of $100m for reforms, $50m to enable lending, $5.5m to finance related activities

ISLAMABAD:

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved $155.5 million in financing for Pakistan to support policy reforms enhancing women’s access to finance and provide credit to women-led micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises. The financing comprises a $100 million policy-based loan that supports legal and regulatory reforms to help women better access finance; a $50 million financial intermediation loan that will enable participating financial institutions to lend to women entrepreneurs; and a $5.5 million grant to finance related activities.

“Inclusive, resilient, and sustainable development cannot be achieved if women do not have equal economic opportunities and benefits,” said ADB Director General for Central and West Asia Yevgeniy Zhukov.

According to the ADB press statement received here Monday, female labour force participation in Pakistan currently stands at about 23%. The country also has among the lowest rates of women’s entrepreneurship in the world at 4% of female working-age adults. While Pakistan’s financial inclusion has been improving, women are increasingly left behind with a large gender finance gap, which currently stands at 34%.

ADB Senior Financial Sector Economist Andrew McCartney said, “Policies must recognise the importance of women entrepreneurship and create an enabling environment that increases women’s participation in the formal economy and gives them more opportunities to grow their businesses.”

Read: ADB approves $659m financing for Pakistan

The policy-based loan supports reforms that incorporate women’s needs into national policies, such as the State Bank of Pakistan’s Banking on Equality Policy that, among a range of measures, requires banks to establish departments dedicated to providing services to women. It supports measures enabling women’s access to credit and credit alternatives through digital channels, providing financial training and advisory services to women, and improving the working conditions of women within the finance sector.

The financial intermediation loan, meanwhile, is expected to benefit around two million women entrepreneurs, including about 510,000 who previously had no access to finance, through lending via participating financial institutions.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 12^th, 2023.

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