The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a loan of $350 million to support access to finance for women in Pakistan.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has announced $350 million in funding for the second phase of the Women-Inclusive Finance Sector Development Program in Pakistan.
The package includes a $300 million policy-based loan and a $50 million financial intermediation loan aimed at expanding credit access and guarantees to support women’s entrepreneurship and financial inclusion.
“The program is ambitious with a goal to reach out to over 2 million women in Pakistan to help them fulfill their potential, through a combination of access to finance, inclusive legal and policy reforms, and expanding capacity for entrepreneurship,” said ADB Director Sani Ismail.
The program is aligned with the government of Pakistan’s Country Partnership Strategy 2021–2025 to boost the representation of women in the economy.
Women remain underrepresented in Pakistan’s economy, which has the second-lowest ranking among 146 economies in the Global Gender Gap Index in 2024.
A key requirement to include women in the economic development of the country is to reduce the ever-expanding gap in access to finance which currently stands at 37% in 2024, it added.
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