At the outset let me place microfinance in the overall context of the efforts the State Bank is making to expand the outreach of financial services and help the goal of poverty alleviation in the country.
The SBP is, in addition to microfinance, encouraging the provision of credit to small and medium entrepreneurs through a newly set up SME Bank, to small farmers through a newly restructured Zarai Taraqqati Bank Ltd and Cooperative Banks, to women entrepreneurs, individuals and small firms through the First Women’s Bank.