FMBL, Pakistan Post collaborate to alleviate poverty

ISLAMABAD: The First MicroFinance Bank Ltd (FMBL) and Pakistan Post have agreed to work together for alleviating poverty in the country. This unique public-private partnership between both the parties will allow rapid scaling up of quality microfinance services to the very poor populations residing in rural and urban Pakistan.

Following this agreement the social motive of FMBL will be merged with the Pakistan Post’s commitment to eliminate distances thereby combining the 25 years of microfinance experience of FMBL through the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme with Pakistan’s most well spread distribution network that will benefit the poor living in country remotest rural areas.

This public-private partnership would address the key issue of microfinance inaccessibility to the poor. Under the agreement the FMBL will be able to provide financial services to the poor and vulnerable segments located not only in the remote rural areas but also the urban areas, through 4,000 sub offices of Pakistan Post across the country while leveraging its own branch network of 82 branches by year end.

It is expected that such a wide network would facilitate disbursement of Rs 15 Billion to more than millions of clients, over a period of 3-5 years. This partnership will take FMBL closer to its clientele, while Pakistan Post will benefit from optimum utilisation and development of its resources, including human capital.

Prime Minister of Pakistan, Governor State Bank of Pakistan, Federal Minister of Communica-tion and other important personalities from government institutions were also present at the signing ceremony.

FMBL Pakistan operates a unique banking model focusing on providing financial services to the very poor to address their needs, while also ensuring financial sustainability of the institution.

Therefore, FMBL operates not to maximise profitability but to cover its inflation adjusted costs. It is worth mentioning here, FMBL is the first private sector microfinance bank formed under the Microfinance Institution’s Ordinance, 2001 and licensed and regulated by the SBP has expanded at an exponential rate in the last two year.

Currently, the bank has 65-nation-wide, fully automated branches providing a range of financial services to more than 150,000 poor clients. It is the only microfinance bank in Pakistan which has received the CGAP’s Financial Transparency Award for 2005 & 2006, in two consecutive years. staff report

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