ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's private sector credit expanded by Rs1.46 trillion ($5.3 billion), or 14.8%, in fiscal year 2025-26, marking the strongest annual increase since FY22, according to Adviser to the Finance Minister Khurram Schehzad.
Outstanding private sector credit reached Rs11.38 trillion ($41.1 billion) during the fiscal year, the adviser announced said in a post on X.
Business credit accounted for more than 80% of the overall increase, rising by Rs1.18 trillion ($4.26 billion), or 14%, during the fiscal year.
He said nearly 89% of the increase in business credit was concentrated in three sectors. Manufacturing accounted for 56% of the increase, followed by wholesale and retail trade at 18% and agriculture at 15%.
Manufacturing sector received Rs657 billion ($2.4 billion) in new financing, the adviser noted. He said lending to wholesale and retail trade and agriculture also increased.
Khurram Schehzad said the overall increase reflected improving business confidence and strengthening economic activity.
He described private sector credit as a leading indicator of economic expansion, saying businesses borrow to invest, expand production capacity, modernize operations and prepare for future demand rather than sustain existing activities.
The adviser attributed the growth in financing to improving macroeconomic stability, easing financial conditions and ongoing structural reforms, which he said were strengthening business confidence and encouraging private investment.
He said financing was increasingly directed toward productive sectors that he said could expand industrial capacity, improve competitiveness and support Pakistan's transition to a private sector-led, investment-driven, export-oriented and sustainable growth model.
