KARACHI: The Governor of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Yaseen Anwar, has observed that the financial system in Pakistan is yet to grow to its full potential and play a more meaningful role in the economic development of the country.
Delivering his speech on `Developing Non-Bank Financial Models while addressing the risks of Shadow Banking' at the SECP Conference on Non-Bank Financial Institutions at a hotel here on Monday, he said that we definitely need to add to its diversification and depth.
Non-Bank Financial Institutions (NBFIs) can play a meaningful role in this pursuit, he said, adding that in the light of the global financial crises, we are better informed about the various risks that the NBFIs/Shadow Banking carry with it.
`As regulators we need to remain vigilant to ensure that those risks are mitigated without inhibiting sustainable non-banking financing models', he said.
Anwar said that while the overall assets of the financial sector in Pakistan have increased from Rs 5.202 trillion in 2005 to Rs 11.107 trillion in 2011, the share of the financial sector in terms of GDP is very low at 57.4 percent.
He said that in 2011, Banks held 74 percent of the financial assets while the share of NBFIs was only 4.7 percent of the total financial sector assets which was around 7.6 percent in 2005.
`The low financial sector to GDP ratio and NBFIs declining share in financial sector assets clearly underscores the need for financial sector development and diversification of financial sector assets to attract investors with different return expectations and risk appetite and channelise financial resources for the economic development of the country', he observed.
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