State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Dr Reza Baqir unveiled a report titled ‘SDGs and sustainability report – Pakistan banking sector perspective’ in Dubai recently.
The report was launched in an event on the theme “The Future of Green and Sustainable Finance – The Role of the SDGs” organized by the Global Ethical Finance Initiative (GEFI) in collaboration with the Government of Scotland and the United Kingdom Islamic Finance Council (UKIFC). This is the first-ever report from the banking perspective that not only maps progress on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030, set by the United Nations and banks but also highlights the specific gaps in achieving them.
In his keynote address, Dr Baqir highlighted SBPs and the government’s commitment to the SDGs, demonstrated by initiatives to achieve these goals and work to ensure sustainability. He emphasized that Pakistan is one of the first few countries to adopt the SDGs 2030 agenda through a unanimous resolution of Parliament. He highlighted that the seven pillars of government’s Vision-2025 are fully aligned with the SDGs and provide a comprehensive long-term strategy for achieving inclusive growth and sustainable development.
In pursuit of SDGs, Dr Reza highlighted some of the key initiatives undertaken by SBP in recent times including the landmark policy “Banking on Equality” to address the gender gap in financial inclusion and flagship Mera Pakistan Mera Ghar (MPMG) scheme to provide financing for low cost and affordable housing in the country, which was non-existent before 2021.
He stated that MPMG has not only helped to provide shelter to those who were underprivileged but also stimulated the economy. The flagship scheme has so far attracted applications amounting to Rs. 357 billion out of which housing loans of Rs. 157 billion have been approved with the disbursement of Rs. 56 billion. The governor specially mentioned SBP’s innovative renewable energy financing facility, which encourages banks to increase green financing portfolio and reduce carbon footprint.
Dr Reza lauded the work done so far by Pakistani banks on SDGs. However, he stressed that boards and management of the banks should explicitly convey their commitment and support for the implementation of SDGs to their teams and other stakeholders to embed this message. He also said that banks should develop implementations plans with the identification of timelines and responsibilities to achieve SDGs in conjunction with capacity-building programs. He emphasized the need to institutionalize and deepen the reforms to advance the implementation of SDGs.
The SBP governor also participated in the fireside chat during the event with Scotland’s Minister for Trade Ivan McKee. During the discussion, Dr. Reza brought attention to the important role of private sector finance in the funding of the SDGs commitments. He said that space for private sector investments is huge, and in this regard, the government is providing the required facilitation and regulatory flexibility. He also emphasized that emerging market countries also need innovative financial structures from international financial institutions to meet the enormous financial needs to meet sustainability requirements.
