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Micro Finance has proved to be one of the most effective tools for facilitating socio-economic development through increased access to financial services. The economic landscape of NWFP is characterized by a number of flourishing small-scale economic activities scattered throughout the cities, towns and rural areas. However, these smaller enterprise entities have never been a focused market for formal financial institutions operating in this region.
Contributing significantly to income and employment generation, The Bank of Khyber (BOK) considers the promotion of micro-enterprises as one of the alternative economic development strategies for the province. For this purpose the BOK launched its micro business development in 1995 and rural financial services in 1997. This was the first formal and structured initiative by a commercial bank to broaden the base for micro enterprise market. The initiative was further strengthened and encouraged by various multilateral institutions such as Asian Development Bank (ADB), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), KFW (German Development Bank) and Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC) through credit lines and technical assistance.
Encouraged by these developments a new unit called micro finance unit was instituted in November 1999, which presently functions as Micro Finance Department (MFD) under the umbrella of Credit Division. BOK aims to be the largest Micro Finance provider in NWFP on sustainable basis. Our main Objective is providing access to financial services to the low income and disadvantaged segment of the society to raise their standard of living with specific emphasis upon women. The pursuit of this objective will significantly contribute to the improvement of employment opportunities, income generating activities and subsequently poverty alleviation.
Pursuing its objective the BOK provides micro enterprise and group loans for existing and new enterprises engaged in value addition process, requiring technology improvement or working capital. MFD offers the following loan products:
- Micro-enterprise Loans to a maximum of Rs. 100,000 however fresh loans are considered for below Rs. 50,000.
- Group Loans to members of organized rural communities and urban clusters to a maximum of Rs. 30,000 per member.
- Domestic Consumption Loans to a maximum of Rs. 100,000 to employees of government / semi government organizations subject to prior Institutional Arrangements.
- Tea Development Loans for tea growers in Mansehra.
- Motorcycle financing to individuals and Institutions.
- CNG Auto Rickshaw finance
- CNG Kit Conversion finance
- Credit Line to qualifying Rural Support Programs and NGOs for on lending in rural areas.
BOK has made a modest beginning but a great potential for growth is still to be explored. As of June 30, 2006, BOK has disbursed total loans of Rs. 1.2 billion to more than 24,000 borrowers with majority of the loans below Rs. 50,000 per client. Current outstanding portfolio remains at Rs. 207.7 million with an active clientele of 6,587. |
