Where we work

South Asia
• Bangladesh
• India
• Pakistan
◦ Kashf Foundation
    ◦ UPAP
    ◦ Kishwar's story
    ◦ Muazzam's story

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Grameen Foundation : Where we work : South Asia : Pakistan

Pakistan

Microfinance is a relatively new and emerging sector of the development industry in Pakistan. However, in the past few years, both the Pakistan government and the nonprofit community have taken a more active role in promoting its growth and development. Consequently, the sector is enjoying the benefits of this attention, through an increase in funding, exposure in the media, and improved workforce recruiting.

The Need in Pakistan 

• The official poverty line in 1998-99 was defined at 7,800 Pakistani Rupees (US $129.60) per capita; according to this definition, approximately 48 million Pakistanis (33 percent of its total population) live below the poverty line.
• Pakistan is the seventh most populous country, with approximately 2.3 percent of the world's population.

In the late 1960s, a few NGOs in the rural areas of Pakistan began to experiment with microcredit by offering subsidized loans. However, they mostly failed to reach the poor due to abuse and corruption. In the 1980s, the Aga Khan Rural Support Program (AKRSP) was established, which started offering microfinance services using its community-based organization model. Up until the early 1990s, there were few players in the sector, none with clear business plans, and the sector had a low profile.

In 1999, the government of Pervez Musharraf announced its strategy for poverty reduction with microfinance as a central part of that strategy. Two years later, the government introduced the Microfinance Institutions Ordinance of 2001 to promote the growth of microfinance and to regulate organizations offering microfinance services. The government of Pakistan has declared its goal of poverty alleviation by reducing the poverty rate from 33 percent of the population to 15.2 percent by the end of 2008.

Most estimates conclude that the microfinance sector is currently reaching less than five percent of the 6.6 million poor households that are in need of microfinance services.

Our partner microfinance institutions in Pakistan: Kashf Foundation and UPAP

Pakistan success stories: Muazzam and Kishwar

Grameen Foundation's Pakistan Advisory Council provides guidance for our work in Pakistan.

Grameen Foundation : Where we work : South Asia : Pakistan