Documentation for SME sector to be minimized: SBP governor

FAISALABAD: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Reza Baqir on Saturday said documentation would be minimized for the SME sector to fully exploit from the Refinance Scheme of the SBP and a committee headed by Executive Director Dr. Anayat Hussain has been constituted.

He was talking to Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI) President Muhammad Sikandar Azam Khan in an exclusive Zoom meeting here.

Syed Samar Hussain, the Executive Director SBP, and Ashraf Khan, the Managing Director Banking Services Corporation, were also present.

The SBP governor said that the committee would review the entire system to identify documents which could be skipped. He directed the committee to start work on an urgent basis so that viable suggestions could be presented as early as possible.

Regarding banking hours, he said a circular had been issued and all commercial banks would work from 9am to 5:30pm from Monday to Friday.

‘’It will not only lessen burden on banks but also facilitate people’’, he added. The governor also announced a separate committee headed by Chief Manager SBP Faisalabad.

“It will have the president FCCI in addition to other elected office bearers of local trade bodies”, he told and added that the committee would hold its meeting every month and decide problems of local nature there and then.

He said that yet another committee would also be constituted to discuss the possible impacts of corona on sick units.

“A separate meeting will also be arranged with the owners of these sick units’’, he assured. Earlier, Sikandar Azam Khan, the president FCCI, welcomed the incentive package after corona lockdown.

He thanked Reza Baqir for having direct contacts with the stakeholders to resolve their genuine issues.

He was also appreciative of his continuous follow up to pass on the benefits of this scheme to the needy segments. “In this connection Chief Manager State Bank Faisalabad has been nominated a focal person’’, he added.

The president FCCI also appreciated sincere efforts of the governor SBP and thanked him for his close liaison with the chamber.