Financial inclusion soars to 69pc in CY25: SBP

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has achieved all headline targets under the National Financial Inclusion Strategy 2024-2028 (NFIS28), meeting every annual benchmark set for the period and recording notable progress across key financial indicators. Financial inclusion rose to 69 percent by the end of calendar year 2025, up from 64 percent in CY23, while the gender gap narrowed to 29 percent from 34 percent over the same period.

According to first annual progress report for NFIS28 for the year 2025 (CY25), issued on Tuesday, the implementation of strategy was commenced in January 2025 with a vision to improve the social and economic wellbeing of masses in Pakistan. Of the total 52 actions, 10 actions have been completed as of December 2025. Progress on the remaining actions is largely on track.

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The SBP also reported a significant increase in priority sector lending, reflected in a higher share of these sectors in overall private sector credit.

In addition, the share of digital payments in total transactions surged to 70 percent, underscoring the continued shift toward a more digitised financial ecosystem.

Within a year of implementation of NFIS28, 6.8 million new unique accounts were added in the banking system, of which more than 55 percent were women.

The key achievements supporting financial inclusion during CY25 included Pakistan joining the ranks of countries collecting and dash-boarding granular, district-level data on financial inclusion indicators such as deposits, access points, and loans, enabling more precise monitoring and policy formulation.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026