Stress laid on green banking
Green Banking Guidelines, introduced by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) in 2017, are not mandatory but eventually they will become a policy to be implemented by banks, said SBP Deputy Chief Manager Mohammad Tahir.
Speaking at a meeting of Fair Finance Pakistan (FFP), he said that 16 banks were facilitating green business and more initiatives were in the pipeline to promote climate-friendly banking.
"There are some limitations and practical realities which the central bank has to take into account for the investment flow," he said. Speaking on the occasion, FFP official Asim Jaffry said that only 20% of Pakistanis owned a formal bank account and only 5% of them were women.
He lamented that micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) were heavily underfinanced as a huge chunk of lending went to the government and large-scale industry.
Speakers, at a webinar organized by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) Karachi Branch, believed that Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) related services will improve Pakistan's financial market infrastructure.
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) Karachi Branch on Wednesday organized a CIPS Webinar aimed to facilitate the cross-border RMB clearing and settlement, improve the service quality and efficiency of RMB clearing operation in Pakistan, and further explore the market with the advantages of RMB infrastructure construction.
Syed Ali Raza Director of Treasury Operation Department (TOD) of State Bank of Pakistan, Chen Yuncheng CEO of ICBC Karachi Branch, Xie Guoxiang Commercial
Minister-Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan, Wang Kun Deputy Director of Int'l Banking Department of ICBC Head Office, Xu Zaiyue President of CIPS Company participated in the webinar and given speeches. In addition, more than 100 participants mostly from local banks attended the webinar.
Chen Yuncheng the CEO of ICBC Karachi Branch presided over the meeting and delivered a welcome speech to the audience. Wang Kun Deputy Director of Int'l Banking Department of ICBC Head Office highly praised the excellent performance of Karachi Branch in business development and transformation in recent years.
Syed Ali Raza fully affirmed the contribution made by ICBC Karachi Branch in facilitating local enterprises and financial institutions in RMB clearing and settlement in recent years.