Pakistan has witnessed a major leap in women’s financial inclusion, with the number of active bank accounts held by women rising from 20 million to 37 million since 2021, according to Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Jameel Ahmad.
Speaking at the World Bank Headquarters in Washington D.C. during the 2025 Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group, Ahmad said the gender gap in financial inclusion has narrowed from 39% to 30% in just four years — a milestone attributed to SBP’s Banking on Equality Policy.
Addressing a session titled ‘Capital to Scale: Women Entrepreneurs as Job Creators’, Ahmad emphasized that women entrepreneurs are at the heart of inclusive and sustainable economic growth in developing nations.
He noted that since the launch of the Banking on Equality initiative — Pakistan’s first comprehensive gender-mainstreaming policy for the financial sector — women’s participation in the economy has strengthened significantly:
- Female microfinance borrowers have surged by over 200%
- Women’s SME and agricultural financing portfolios have doubled
- Banks have hired over 14,600 women in the last three years
Ahmad announced that SBP is now finalizing Phase II of the policy, which will integrate digital solutions, business profiling tools, and remote financing channels to support women-led MSMEs.
He also shared that SBP, along with 22 banks, has adopted the WE-Finance Code — a global initiative led by the World Bank — to reduce gender disparities in MSME financing and foster a unified national coalition for women’s economic empowerment.
Governor Ahmad reaffirmed SBP’s commitment to promoting gender equality, financial inclusion, and women’s entrepreneurship, calling for more gender-responsive strategies, inclusive industry practices, and capacity-building investments to sustain Pakistan’s progress toward economic inclusivity.
