SBP urged to instruct banks to facilitate businessmen

PESHAWAR: The leader of the United Business Group (UBG) and former senator, Ilyas Ahmad Bilour, has urged the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to give authority to regional heads of the commercial banks, allowing them to issue letter of credit, loans and independently deal with other affairs to facilitate the business community.

Speaking after a meeting on Thursday, he expressed grave concern over not giving authorities to bank regional heads for issuance of letter of credit, loans and other facilities to the business community.

Ilyas Ahmad Bilour pointed out that the regional heads of commercial banks in KP, especially in Peshawar, did not resolve the minor-nature issues of industrialists and the trader community, consequently, the economy as well as industrial and business activities were adversely affected in the province.

The elderly businessman, who is also a senior leader of Awami National Party, said the SCCI had played a pivotal role in making regional heads of commercial banks more autonomous in the affairs concerning the business community, because of which, the banks have promptly released loans up to Rs 5 million to traders by the regional heads.

But, he deplored, the regional heads of commercial banks were now even unable to issue letter of credit besides the process had also been made complicated in this regard.

The UBG leader said the approval of minor-nature issues of commercial banks were now being handled from Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, which had created multiple difficulties for the business community.

He lamented that KP had been declared as ‘red-zone’ by the commercial banks which was an injustice to the business community of the province.

Ilyas Bilour said despite the issuance of a letter of credit, the document’s scrutiny and approval processes was unnecessarily delayed which wasted the precious time of the community.

He said there was an improvement in the deposits of the commercial banks but even then their lending ratio was very low in KP, which had made industrialization a dream.

The UBG leader said the SBP, being a regulatory authority, should direct the commercial banks to give unprecedented autonomy to the regional heads to facilitate the business community.

“Keeping the regional heads of the banks powerless will not only create more problems for the business community but will also slow down the economic development and industrialization in the province,” argued Ilyas Ahmad Bilour.