On 13 January, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor, Mr Jameel Ahmad, AFI CEO, Dr Alfred Hannig, SBP technical staff, and leaders of Pakistan’s banking, microfinance and fintech sector met in Karachi to discuss the country’s progress on financial inclusion.  

Dr Hannig congratulated Governor Ahmad on SBP’s success in advancing financial inclusion, notably in relation to gender equality, agriculture finance, and digitalization. He also highlighted SBP’s key role in advancing financial inclusion internationally through its active engagement in the AFI network: Governor Ahmad is an AFI Board Member and Vice Chair of AFI’s South Asia Region Financial Inclusion Initiative (SARFII), and SBP is Vice Chair of AFI’s Gender Inclusive Finance Committee. 

Governor Ahmed commended AFI’s support and longstanding partnership with SBP, which has helped SBP to devise evidence-based policies across diverse financial inclusion areas. Dr Hannig and Governor Ahmed discussed opportunities to further strengthen their collaboration in the areas of implementing evidence-based policies around digital financial services, sustainable green finance, gender equality, MSME finance, and consumer empowerment. 

SBP Deputy Governor, SBP, Dr Inayat Hussain, presented SBP’s 2024-2028 National Financial Inclusion Strategy, which aims to achieve a national financial inclusion rate of 75% by June 2028, and to cut the gender gap to 25%. Dr. Hannig, who was accompanied by Aban Haq, AFI’s Head PMO & Membership Engagement, also met with SBP technical experts and representatives from banks, Pakistan Bank’s Association, Pakistan Microfinance Network, and Fintech Association, to discuss challenges in broadening access to financial services, and in implementing financial inclusion policies at grassroots level.