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Bank to offer cheap loans for small businesses

[Pakistan] Micro credit has helped this Pakstani family start a business making and selling wedding decorations. IRIN
Cheap loans have helped this family start a business
    ISLAMABAD

    Pakistan's Small and Medium Enterprise Bank (SMEB) plans to loan about US $17 million this year to small businesses as part of wider government efforts to create employment and reduce poverty in the country.

    SMEB's spokesman Ghazanfar Hashmi told IRIN in the Pakistani capital Islamabad on Wednesday the loan would be distributed across the country to promote small businesses.

    Since its inception on 1 January, 2002, the SMEB bank has extended loans worth US $3.21 million for 361 business projects in health, education, fisheries, food, textiles and several other areas.

    "It is the bank's mission to support and develop the SME [small and medium enterprises] sector in Pakistan by providing the necessary financial assistance and business support services on a sustainable basis to enable it to contribute to economic development," said a statement from the bank faxed to IRIN.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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