National Bank Of Pakistan Ready To Support Young Entrepreneurs Having Innovative Ideas: NPB President

National Bank of Pakistan, President Arif Usmani said on Wednesday the NBP was ready to support young entrepreneurs having innovative ideas

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 21st Oct, 2020 ):National Bank of Pakistan, President Arif Usmani said on Wednesday the NBP was ready to support young entrepreneurs having innovative ideas.

Addressing at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), he said that like developed countries, the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) was set to support the private sector and wished to establish an Angel Investment Fund (AIF) in collaboration with LCCI to support the new businesses.

He said the NBP, in cooperation with the private sector, particularly LCCI wants to develop a bankable and viable structure for increasing the lending to the housing sector, adding, in this regard, 4 to 5 nominated representative of private sector should work in collaboration with the NBP to develop this financing structure.

He said that as compared to other banks, the NBP was affected more by the COVID-19 outbreak. This was because NBP being a state owned Bank has given loans to more diverse kinds of businesses as compared to private Banks, he added.

Arif Usmani said that an AIF should be established at LCCI to support the young entrepreneurs with innovative ideas, adding the NBP intended to cooperate with the private sector to have a better understanding of the complexities of the Housing Sector and there was immense potential for growth in the housing sector of Pakistan.

Usmani said the NBP was taking various measures for improving its technology, adding the NBP was also striving to increase its financing for agriculture sector as it was a very important sector of our economy.

LCCI President Mian Tariq Misbah said that COVID-19 had adversely affected the Pakistan's economy, adding that there were a large number of businesses who were not able to clear their bank liabilities in time and their names were included in Electronic Credit Information Bureau (ECIB).

Mian Tariq Misbah said, "We recommend that you should take up this matter with the State Bank of Pakistan to relax this directive", adding the State Bank's recent initiative of deferring the payment of principal amount on loans for one year should be extended till June 2021. This would enable the businesses to recover from the adverse impact of COVID-19 and normalize their operations, he added.

He recommended that National Bank in collaboration with relevant government institutions should facilitate SMEs through innovative financing schemes at low mark-up rates with minimal collateral requirement. This would enable SMEs to play a vital role in enhancing the exports of our country, he added.

He further said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had taken a keen interest in the development of housing sector for revival of economy. He said, although, the banks have been directed to increase the percentage of their loans to the housing sector, the success of this vision could only be materialized through effective and swift implementation by the banks. "We hope the National Bank of Pakistan under your leadership will play a leading role in this regard", he added.

LCCI Senior Vice President Nasir Hameed Khan urged the NBP to introduce a specialized financial product with lowest markup rate for the facilitation of affected businessmen of recent fire incident at Hafeez Centre, adding that this special window from National Bank would enable them to quickly revive their business activities.

SAARC Chamber of Commerce President Iftikhar Ali Malik, Former Presidents Mian Misbah-Ur-Rehman, Tahir Javed Malik, Abdul Basit, Almas Hyder, LCCI executive Committee Members were also present on the occasion.