KARACHI, Jan 23: Women parliamentarians on Thursday urged the First Women Bank to try to bring down the rate of interest on the loans extended to women entrepreneurs so that they could benefit more.
They were speaking to the bank officials during a tour of the bank organized by a non-governmental organization, the Aurat Foundation’s Legislative Watch Programme.
The visit was organized by the foundation to provide first-hand information of the bank’s working to the parliamentarians so that they could facilitate their constituents.
The parliamentarians asked many questions regarding the procedure of how the poor women could get the loans easily and how the loan procedure could be further simplified so that the poor women, particularly the rural women, are benefited from it.
They also suggested that bank’s training centres, which presently were located only in big cities, be established in smaller towns and rural areas so that a majority of the women could benefit from these facilities.
Earlier, the bank chief Zarin Aziz giving a brief resume of her organization said the bank was established in 1989 for women’s economic empowerment by transforming their role from passive participants to the active partners in the economic development of the country. She said that micro-financing was the main objective of the bank so that the poor women benefited more. Giving a view of advances up to December 2002 she said that over 3,440 women were provided micro credit (up to Rs 100,000 each) and over Rs 64 million were given to them as loans.
Under the small and medium sized loans, the bank gave over Rs 589 million to 1,128 creditors, while under its corporate credit, it gave over Rs 217 million to 10 loanees.
The bank chief said that the loan recovery rate was nearly 95 per cent. She said that bank had gone into crisis during 1996 when it faced a huge loss of over Rs 271 million, but with efforts and better management things have improved and now the entire loss had been wiped out and the bank was in a profit.
Responding to a question, the bank officials said the mark-up rate had already been brought down considerably and was competitive with other loan giving organizations.
She also said that conditions of providing personal guarantees and collateral, whatever the case may be, for obtaining loans could not be waived off, as the bank was a commercial organization and it not only had to make itself sustainable but also had to ensure safety of the depositors’ money.
Ms Aziz also urged them to open their accounts in the bank and deposit their development funds, that the government gives to every parliamentarian, in the women bank.
Sindh Women Development Minister Dr Saeeda Malik, Anis Haroon of the Aurat Foundation, Shumaila Nazar (MQM-MPA), Farida Baloch (PML-Q MPA), Shabina Talat (MQM-MNA), Aisha Munawar (MMA-MNA), Sassui Palijo (PPP-MPA), Dr Mehreen Bhutto (PPP-MPA), Shama Mithani (PPP-MPA), Nuzhat Pathan (PPP-MPA), Farheena Ambreen (MQM-MPA), Dr Fahmida Mirza (PPP-MNA), Aziz Fatima (MQM-MPA), Afsar Begum (MQM-MPA), Humaira Alwani (MPA-PPP) and members of the Aurat Foundation’s Legislative Watch Group participated.