Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has directed the development of a mechanism to bring microfinance institutions and other relevant entities onto a level playing field.

He was chairing a meeting of the Access to Finance Steering Committee in Islamabad today.

While reviewing progress on SME financing, the Minister called for remaining aligned with the government's medium-term objective of expanding SME financing to two trillion rupees and increasing the number of borrowers to 775,000 by June 2028.

Highlighting the significant potential of the livestock sector, he emphasised the need to explore ways to strengthen financing for the sector through greater private-sector participation and appropriate risk-mitigation mechanisms.

On housing finance, the Finance Minister called for developing practical financing products that can address supply-side constraints and support affordable housing.

Muhammad Aurangzeb also chaired the second meeting of the Steering Committee on Power Sector Regulatory Regime.

The committee reviewed progress and advanced reforms aimed at strengthening the regulatory framework of the power sector and promoting efficiency, investment, competition and greater private-sector participation.