LAHORE, Nov 08 (APP):Coordinator to the Federal Tax Ombudsman Saifur Rehman on Sunday welcomed the State Bank of Pakistan’s launch of SMEConnect, a centralized digital portal designed to simplify access to bank financing for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Talking to a delegation of SME entrepreneurs here, he stated that the initiative would facilitate substantial lending to the SME sector by streamlining procedural workflows and bringing transparency to the loan …
Digital portal to remove hurdles in SME financing: Saifur Rehman
LAHORE, Nov 08 (APP):Coordinator to the Federal Tax Ombudsman Saifur Rehman on Sunday welcomed the State Bank of Pakistan’s launch of SMEConnect, a centralized digital portal designed to simplify access to bank financing for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Talking to a delegation of SME entrepreneurs here, he stated that the initiative would facilitate substantial lending to the SME sector by streamlining procedural workflows and bringing transparency to the loan application process.
He noted that for the first time, SME financing applications would be processed through a unified digital platform, allowing applicants to track their request status in real time and receive formal reasons in cases of rejection.
He added that commercial banks had been directed to process financing applications promptly and strictly on merit, while the final authority to approve loans remained with the respective financial institutions.
Saifur Rehman remarked that SME entrepreneurs previously encountered severe hurdles when securing capital to modernise and upgrade business units, adding that the Prime Minister had also directed provincial governments to ensure timely loan disbursements to foster sustainable economic growth.
