President of Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry Muhammad Ishaq has urged commercial banks to prioritise promoting commercial and industrial operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP)’s merged tribal districts.He was speaking to Regional Head of the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) Fakhkar Zaman and Chief Manager of NBP Saif ul Geer Khan Afridi during a meeting held at the Chamber House.

Ishaq said that the role of the banking sector is crucial in boosting trade and economic activities in new industrial estates in KP's merged tribal districts. He urged commercial banks to take aggressive steps to support small, medium, and large-scale businesses and industries in the province by offering necessary facilities to the business community and making loans readily available with favourable terms and conditions.

Ishaq informed the people of KP's merged districts that the government is taking steps to promote economic, commercial, and industrial operations. Nonetheless, he emphasised that commercial banks in the province's tribal and settled areas should offer investors services through a single point of contact.

The chamber president underlined the need of taking practical efforts to modernise operations and administration as well as the staff's attitudes at commercial banks in order to win back clients' trust and enhance the bank's reputation.

Ishaq said that the State Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill 2021, which addresses the long-standing complaint of the smaller provinces about unfair and unequal credit lending, was approved by the Senate of Pakistan as a result of the tenacious efforts of a prominent businessman from the KP Senator, Mohsin Aziz. Prior to the bill's approval, commercial banks only disbursed loans against deposits from KP and Balochistan at a rate of 1.35%, but following the bill's adoption, that rate will rise to around 5%. The SCCI chief informed the gathering that this will stimulate trade and industrial operations in both provinces.

He requested the National Bank of Pakistan to concentrate on Islamic and corporate banking and take the initiative to modernise the bank. He encouraged NBP to offer all amenities to customers, particularly business clients, at the highest possible standard. NBP Regional Chief Fakhar Zaman said the bank is moving quickly forward with these efforts as it improves its standards and offers facilities to customers in accordance with their demands.

The regional director provided information on consumer financial education training courses. For the purpose of setting up financial awareness programmes, seminars, and training workshops, he gave the assurance that NBP services will be accessible all the time.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk