UNISAME STRESSES NEED FOR AWARENESS OF SBP SCHEMES FOR MSMEs

The Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (UNISAME) appreciated the several schemes of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and regretted that the SMEs are unaware of different financial schemes and urged the promotion and development stakeholders to visit the useful links for schemes and cluster profiling prepared by the SBP for better and sharper facilitation of the sector.

President UNISAME Zulfikar Thaver said the SBP has many schemes for the Micro, small to medium sized entrepreneurs (MSMEs) but most of the entrepreneurs are not aware of the facilities. Even many bank managers are not conversant with the schemes and are not really encouraging the MSMEs to benefit from the schemes in its true sense.

He invited the attention of the SME promotion and development organizations and the commercial banks to study the schemes and accordingly guide the MSMEs to obtain finance under the schemes and benefit from the special facilities provided for them.

He listed the useful links for ready reference of all the stakeholders as under:

1. Cluster profiling http://www.sbp.org.pk/departments/ihfd-ifc.htm

2. SME Finance Prudential Regulations http://www.sbp.org.pk/publications/prudential/PRs-SMEs.pdf

3. Credit Guarantee Scheme for Small and Rural Enterprises http://www.sbp.org.pk/smefd/circulars/2010/C1.htm

4. Credit Guarantee and Risk Sharing Scheme for Rice Husking Mills in Sindh www.sbp.org.pk/smefd/circulars/2013/C6.htm

5. Refinance Facility for Modernization of SMEs http://www.sbp.org.pk/incentives/ltf-eop/ConsolidatedScheme.pdf

6. Scheme for Financing Power Plants using Renewable Energy http://www.sbp.org.pk/smefd/circulars/2009/C19.htm
7. Prime Minister Youth Business Loans for SEs http://www.sbp.org.pk/smefd/circulars/2013/C10.htm

Thaver said the MSMEs could benefit from the various schemes if guided properly by the commercial banks and financial institutions and modernize their units.

Posted in: Press Releases