PM reaffirms Pakistan's commitment to UN reforms and multilateralism

 -- Shehbaz backs balanced UN agenda, effective implementation of Security Council resolutions

-- PM meets UN secretary-general candidates Macky Sall and Rebeca Grynspan, reaffirms Pakistan's commitment to multilateralism

-- Government unveils ambitious Access to Finance Plan to expand credit for SMEs, agriculture, exports, housing and IT

-- Banks urged to boost lending as premier vows monthly oversight to drive sustainable, export-led economic growth

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday reaffirmed Pakistan's unwavering commitment to multilateralism, calling for a stronger and more effective United Nations while simultaneously directing banks to expand financing for key sectors to accelerate sustainable economic growth.

In separate meetings with candidates for the position of United Nations secretary-general — former Senegalese president Macky Sall and former Costa Rican vice president Rebeca Grynspan — the prime minister reiterated Pakistan's steadfast support for the central role of the United Nations in addressing global challenges.

He expressed hope that the next UN secretary-general would ensure balanced progress across the organisation's three core pillars of peace and security, development, and human rights, while strengthening the implementation of UN Security Council resolutions and adherence to international law and treaties.

The prime minister reaffirmed Pakistan's commitment to upholding the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and stressed the need to accelerate the global development agenda and enhance international cooperation to address the challenges facing developing countries.

Both Macky Sall and Rebeca Grynspan appreciated Pakistan's longstanding contributions to the United Nations and commended its constructive role in promoting regional peace and international diplomacy.

Separately, chairing a high-level meeting on promoting access to finance, Prime Minister Shehbaz underscored that expanding affordable financial facilities was essential for achieving sustainable and export-led economic growth.

He directed banks to substantially increase lending to priority sectors, particularly small and medium enterprises (SMEs), describing them as the backbone of Pakistan's economy.

"Greater access to finance will boost exports, create employment opportunities and strengthen sustainable economic growth," the prime minister said, adding that banks demonstrating better performance in extending credit would be encouraged.

Announcing close oversight of the initiative, he said he would personally chair monthly review meetings on the implementation of the Access to Finance Plan.

Officials briefed the meeting that the plan aims to increase access to credit for SMEs, agriculture, exports, renewable energy, housing and information technology through a coordinated approach involving the Ministry of Finance, the State Bank of Pakistan, provincial governments and other relevant institutions.

Under the new governance framework, the finance minister will head the implementation mechanism while the SBP governor will serve as co-chair.

The government has set ambitious targets for the next two years, including increasing the SME sector's share in private-sector lending from seven per cent to 10pc and raising the number of SME loan beneficiaries from 310,000 to 750,000.

The meeting was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, Governor State Bank Jamil Ahmed, federal ministers, presidents and chief executives of commercial banks, provincial chief secretaries and senior government officials.