LAHORE: South Asian Studies University of Oxford Director Dr Mathew MacCartney chaired second session of Lahore School of Economic (LSE) conference ‘Regional Manufacturing Hub-Prospects and Challenges’ opened on finance and industrial development.
A paper in session was presented by Imran Ahmad additional Director of Infrastructure Housing and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Finance Development at State Bank of Pakistan. It showed flow of financing to manufacturing sector witnessed gradual and steady increase in absolute terms however its share in total industry credit saw a sharp decline over a period of nine years, while financing to manufacturing SMEs after witnessing a declining trend saw an increasing trend over a period of six years.
Dr Hanns Pichler from Vienna University of Economics and Business presented paper of the session. The paper highlighted importance of SMEs and significance of formulating SME-conducive policies.