KARACHI – Federal Women’s Development Minister Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan has pledged that her ministry will help First Women Bank Limited (FWBL) resolve all issues hindering development projects of the bank. She was speaking to the top management of the bank during her visit to the head office in Karachi.
The First Women Bank Limited (FWBL) has requested government aid to deal with major challenges such as the State Bank’s (SBP) minimum capital requirement (MCR).
FWBL President Shafqat Sultana told the minister that FWBL has contributed towards the growth of women as entrepreneurs and agents of change.
According to Sultana, in her briefing about the bank’s working, told the minister that existing paid up capital of her bank stood at Rs 284 million, far lesser than the central bank’s limit.
The FWBL president also asked for government’s intervention in helping the organisation implement the Basel II, organisational restructuring and human resource reorganisation.
She went on to say that the organisation plans to spread its branch network of 38 in 23 districts to more than 100 branches to every city of Pakistan, to enable women’s access to financial resources and economic empowerment. She informed the minister that a number of FWBL’s clients had graduated from being small scaled to medium enterprises with bank disbursing some Rs 28 billion so far.
The bank, she said, had deposits valued at Rs 10.124 billion and had advanced some Rs 7.461 billion till September 30 this year. She said her bank had gathered Rs 12.804 billion as total assets with a profit of Rs 50 million and net asset value per share standing at Rs 38.55.
According to Sultana, with shareholders equity of Rs 1.093 billion, the FWBL was not only providing a holistic banking service, but also support services like skill and computer literacy exclusively for the women.
The federal minister assured the FWBL management of full support of her ministry to help the bank resolve all issues hindering its development.
