Securities and Exchange Commission proposes hike in loan limits

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has proposed raising the maximum loan limit for microenterprise and housing finance from non-banking microfinance companies to Rs5 million. Additionally, the income threshold for individual borrowers in the sector has been increased from Rs1.2m to Rs1.5m. These proposals are part of draft amendments to the Non-Banking Finance Companies and Notified Entities Regulations 2008, which are currently open for public consultation.

The SECP aims to enable non-banking finance companies to better respond to the growing financing needs of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by revising the annual turnover ranges used to classify SMEs. The proposed range for small enterprises is now Rs30m to Rs400m, compared to the current limit of up to Rs150m, and for medium enterprises, it is Rs400m to Rs2bn, compared to the current range of Rs150m to Rs800m.

The SECP believes these changes will help non-banking finance companies serve more borrowers and address the financing needs of businesses, households, and individuals.

Brief written by urgent.news from Dawn Business's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.