to address this issue, sbp has introduced a livestock insurance scheme for borrowers to mitigate risk of loss of livestock due to disease, natural calamities & accidents. to ensure diversity of agri. financing institutions, sbp has included microfinance banks and islamic banks into the agri. indicative target scheme of sbp. the agricultural credit advisory committee ( acac ), which is the apex consultative forum for agri financing with representation from all the relevant federal & provincial departments, farming community, banks and experts, has been re - activated. the acac met on 17th february 2014 which supported my six - point agenda to boost agri financing. this includes : – launching of the 2nd round of financial innovation challenge fund ( ficf ) under the ukaid - sponsored financial inclusion program, to promote innovative techniques in agri and rural financing ( for which we have gathered today ). – further, the acac approved my proposal of upward revision in the agri credit disbursement target from rs. 360 billion to rs. 380 billion for the current year, which is 13 percent higher than the actual disbursement of rs. 336 billion in last year. bis central bankers ’ speeches – sbp is going to launch a country - wide internship program for 100 top graduates in agriculture to be funded under the adb ’ s improving access to financial services endowment fund. – banks have been assigned targets for outstanding agriculture portfolio and number of borrowers to have high impact of financing at grass roots level from the current year. – sbp has made agricultural finance a key indicator of performance of banks which will be reflected in their supervisory ratings. – and, finally a working group of acac has been formed to review the state of affairs of small farmers financing and make recommendations for improving financial access to small farmers. recognizing the economic significance of rural smes, state bank has revised the prudential regulations for sme financing to put focus on ‘ s ’ part of smes. further, following incentives for sme exporters have been introduced in the export finance scheme ( efs ). – banks will allocate at least 10 % of their efs limits for smes. – for smes availing export finance under the performance - based system, the mark - up rebate has been increased by 0. 5 percentage point. – further, to incentivize banks to provide more financing to smes their spread has been increased from 1 % to 2 %

circulars, covering key areas arising from consumer financing, including disclosure standards, business conduct, underwriting standards, complaints handling, cooling - off periods, sale of third party products, fair debt collection practices, pricing and loan documentation, etc. 3. establishment of electronic cib. 4. fixation of minimum rate of return on deposits. 5. issuance of guidelines for internal controls for cheque payments. 6. issuance of guidance on sale of third party products. 7. issuance of operational guidelines for credit card business in pakistan. 8. issuance of operational guidelines on atms. 9. issuance of guidelines on collection of utility bills. 10. issuance of guidance on priority to senior citizen and pension disbursement through banks. turning to the issue of institutional arrangements for strengthening of consumer protection policy and swift grievance redessal, sbp has established a consumer protection department ( cpd ). under the current regulatory framework, all banks are required to establish comprehensive dispute resolution mechanisms while maintaining proper records of such disputes. sbp also inspects the bank ’ s records and processes for resolving complaints during its annual on - site inspections. one of the most inevitable traits of financial consumer protection is consumer trust which can only be ensured through initiatives such as, financial education, appropriate disclosures & non - exploitative competition. therefore, sbp frequently make use of print and electronic media to create awareness for the general masses regarding the probable threats of financial fraud to clients. moreover, targeted awareness sessions are held for various groups including financial service providers, trade bodies / associations, chamber of commerce & industries, consumer associations, ngos, students and faculty members of universities. last but not least, i believe that financial consumer protection could be best achieved if the financial service providers develop and adopt more responsible business practices, encompassing their entire product value chain. the responsibility should be exercised, starting from product design to the delivery of the product to the clients. besides, they should have a swift and effective grievance handling mechanism for satisfaction of their clients. ladies and gentlemen! in the end, let me invite stakeholders like consumer associations, trade bodies, banking ombudsman, financial and legal functionaries, banks and competition commission to come bis central bankers ’ speeches together in eradicating financial consumer malpractices for building an inclusive and stable financial sector in pakistan. wa aakherun dawana annil hamdolillahe rabbil aalamin. bis central bankers ’