Banking --- Maya declaration commitments & State Bank of Pakistan

The Maya Declaration is the first global and measurable set of commitments by developing and emerging country governments to unlock the economic and social potential of the 2.5 billion ‘unbanked’ people through greater financial inclusion. More than 80 such countries – representing more than 75% of the world’s unbanked population – have supported the Declaration. Each country makes measurable commitments in four broad areas that have been proven to increase financial inclusion. These include:

1.      Create an enabling environment to harness new technology that increases access to and lower the costs of financial services;

2.      Implement a proportional framework that advances synergies in financial inclusion, integrity, and stability;

3.      Integrate consumer protection and empowerment as a key pillar of financial inclusion;

4.      Utilize data for informed policy making and tracking results.

State Bank of Pakistan made the following commitment:

“Our commitment to this declaration is single-liner. Let us take financial inclusion beyond the frontiers of commitment to a walk of life. That is our commitment, and hence, everyone present here should start believing financial inclusion as a faith and part of daily life, beyond a time-based activity and responsibility. Let us try to inculcate it through concrete steps as part of our personality traits instead of something being imposed externally. Thank you very much.”

After more than two year of the declaration and I am taking this opportunity to share, how difficult it is to access financial products even by those who earns handsome salary, hold good repute and conduct in the society and carry clean credit record.

A colleague in media, draws six figures salary, carries clean credit history and has been on national screen for many a year, I can safely claim that he is a household figure in Pakistan, had applied for a housing loan with an Islamic bank here in Pakistan. He produced everything required by the bank; his case was processed and rejected on ground of “banks in Pakistan do not provide loans to media personnel’s.”

He seek my help in this regard, I tried to reach bank’s President through his PRO, failed though forwarded to bank’s sales head, who promised to revert back after discussing it to his mortgage head, after a few days, I called to find out how things were and I was put through with the mortgage officer, who took my friend’s number for wonder what. After a few days, I called the president office once again took president email address requesting to reconsider the case. It is pertinent to mentioned here that my friend had savings, which was equal to 2/3 value of the house he wanted to purchase for the rest 1/3 he applied for loan. My request was rejected on same ground. In my reply I thanked for reconsideration.

One can say that it was bank’s internal decision to provide or not to provide loan to a particular person, indeed it is so, but refusing a whole sector, a sector which is considered as a forth pillar of a democracy, this cannot be bank’s internal matter to decide upon but it’s a policy matter and the negligence is on State Bank of Pakistan’s part. Negligence to a commitment made at Riviera Maya. It’s negligence on account of her basic duties.

Question is, if a permanent employee with good salary cannot get a loan, who else can? And what has SBP doing in this regard.