SME loans: PM drops 80% export-revenue condition for long-term financing; Rs 650 billion on offer

Small and medium businesses that export only part of what they make can now qualify for long-term financing: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday 5 November directed that the rule requiring an SME to earn 80% of its revenue from exports be removed, Business Recorder reported. He also said no bank should be allowed to deviate from the concessional financing scheme for SMEs and exporters.

What changes for an SME loan in Pakistan

The 80% rule kept long-term financing for SMEs to firms that are almost entirely exporters. A business that sells half its output at home and half abroad, as many units in Faisalabad and Sialkot do, fell short. Removing the bar opens concessional loans for machinery and expansion to firms with a smaller export share.

The money set aside this year, as presented to the meeting:

The meeting was told that the State Bank of Pakistan's new online portal for SME loans, launched on 1 November, received more than 10,000 applications in its first days, and that about 17,000 SMEs in Pakistan are engaged in exports.

The directive was issued on Thursday. Until the State Bank publishes the revised eligibility rules, confirm with your bank how the change is being applied before you file.

What else the PM ordered

• Testing labs closer to exporters: modern laboratories, better accreditation standards and simpler regulatory procedures, so exporters can get testing and certification "at their doorsteps".
• Problems raised by SMEs: representatives told the government about taxation, delayed refunds, provincial levies, accreditation, logistics, payments and financing.
• Africa: the meeting also reviewed steps to raise Pakistani exports to African countries.

The meeting was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan, SBP Governor Jameel Ahmad and other ministers.

What to do if you run an SME

1. Work out your export share for the last financial year from your sales records and FBR returns; banks will ask for it.
2. Ask your bank's SME desk about the concessional schemes and say you want the revised rules applied. The PM's instruction is that banks must not turn eligible firms away.
3. Compare the cost: concessional rates sit well below market lending, which is priced off KIBOR. Our loan calculator shows the monthly instalment at any rate and term.

A day earlier, on 4 November, the prime minister had told banks to speed up lending to SMEs, farmers and home buyers, Business Recorder reported.