Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has expressed government’s commitment to fast-track three landmark social impact initiatives to boost skills, empower farmers, and advance energy efficiency for sustainable growth.
He made these remarks while chairing three back-to-back meetings in Islamabad today to review the progress of work on major government initiatives scheduled for launch in the coming weeks, with a focus on ensuring their timely roll-out in line with the vision and direction of the Prime Minister.
The initiatives, each designed to generate measurable social impact and advance national development objectives, are being implemented in close coordination with relevant ministries, regulatory bodies, financial institutions and technical partners.
The first meeting reviewed the Pakistan Skills Impact Bond, the country’s first outcomes-based, impact-linked financing instrument to be raised domestically. This instrument will serve as the first in a broader programme to mobilize funding from both domestic and international private and philanthropic capital.
The Finance Minister observed that the Pakistan Skills Impact Bond must be positioned as a “trailblazer” that not only meets immediate development needs but also sets a precedent for attracting a more diverse and deeper investor base. He stressed that it is an opportunity to demonstrate that Pakistan can lead in innovative financing approaches, capable of attracting outcomes funders from around the globe.
The second meeting focused on the National Subsistence Farmers Support Scheme, aimed at unlocking digitally enabled, uncollateralized bank loans for smallholder farmers, those owning or cultivating up to 12.5 acres of land, including tenant farmers.
The Finance Minister noted this would be “the first time space technology will be driving agricultural credit decisions on a national scale” and that the initiative represented “a breakthrough moment” for rural financing in Pakistan.
The third meeting reviewed progress on the Prime Minister’s Fan Replacement Programme, an energy efficiency initiative co-developed by the Power Division’s National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority in collaboration with banks. The programme will enable consumers to replace existing ceiling fans with energy-efficient models at affordable financing rates. An online portal will facilitate a fully digital process, from customer onboarding to loan application, fan selection from approved local manufacturers and loan disbursement and repayment.
The Finance Minister underscored that linking such projects to SDGs and exploring additional sources of financing would amplify their social and economic impact while helping create sustainable local manufacturing capacity.
The Finance Minister placed particular emphasis on the early roll-out of all three initiatives and urged the concerned ministries, departments, and partner organizations to step up their efforts to take these projects to the finishing line within the next few weeks.
