Pakistan’s New Banking Policy Targets Women Entrepreneurs. Can It Help Them Scale?

A new global entrepreneurship study finds that women’s participation in promising startups drops sharply by the time businesses reach the established stage. Pakistan’s central bank has just issued a policy focused on women’s digital accounts, business finance and advisory support. The challenge now is whether those measures can help more women-owned firms move from starting up to staying open and growing.

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), in its 2025/2026 Women’s Entrepreneurship Report published on October 8, says women were active in innovation and other high-potential ventures, but much less visible at the established-business stage. Its survey covered 150,799 adults across 48 economies. The findings are global—not a measurement of women’s businesses in Pakistan—but they raise a question that matters to policy everywhere: are support systems helping women launch enterprises, or also helping them survive, hire and expand?

The gap between starting and scaling

GEM found that 12% of women surveyed were running new businesses in 2025, compared with 14% of men. Women led about 40% of new businesses classified as high-potential. Yet the report measured women’s high-potential early-stage activity at 6.0%, against 0.1% at the established-business stage—a 98% lower rate at that later stage. The comparison describes activity rates at different stages; it should not be read as a claim that 98% of women-led firms fail.

The study also challenges the idea that women entrepreneurs are mainly running low-growth businesses. Women made up 44% of entrepreneurs emphasizing digitalization, 43% of those reporting AI innovation and about 40% of those targeting international markets. Still, the financing picture in the same survey showed a gap: 6.7% of women reported recent business investment, compared with 9.2% of men, and women invested roughly one-third less capital on average.

GEM argues that support should track business survival and scale, not just startup entry. Its report points to women’s access to digital and innovation networks, investment connections and sectors with growth potential. It also notes that women were more likely than men to cite family or personal circumstances when leaving a business, underlining that business growth can depend on time, care responsibilities and support beyond the loan itself.

What Pakistan’s new policy asks banks to do

On October 13, the State Bank of Pakistan issued the Banking on Equality Policy 2026, addressed to banks, microfinance banks, development finance institutions and other regulated entities. Among its measures, it directs banks and development finance institutions to aim to double their financing portfolio for women and women-owned or women-led businesses in priority sectors by December 31, 2028. The institutions are to prepare annual credit plans, and SBP says institution-specific targets based on a June 2026 baseline will be communicated later. This is a policy goal, not evidence that financing has already doubled.

The policy also calls for dedicated Women Digital Business Accounts with simplified requirements and account limits matched to business size and type. Banks and DFIs are directed to develop digital platforms that can guide customers through business and financial advice, credit assessment, loan decisions and repayment. They are encouraged to consider alternative data when assessing a woman-owned business, which could help where conventional collateral or long credit histories are limited.

Another practical measure is support beyond lending. SBP calls for Women Entrepreneurship Hubs in designated SME branches to provide non-financial advisory services, alongside partnerships with universities, incubators and public agencies for business skills, technical training and startup financing. The circular lays out what regulated institutions should do, but it does not establish that each new account or hub is already available at every bank branch. Women should check directly with their bank for current products and eligibility.

Questions for women-led businesses in Chitral

For women running a shop, craft enterprise, farm-related business or online service in Chitral, the policy’s value will depend on access in practice. Can a business owner open an account without repeated travel? Are payment tools reliable enough to record sales? Can local branches explain financing requirements clearly? Is business advice available at a manageable distance or online? These are practical questions, not claims that a new facility has already arrived in the district.

Entrepreneurs can prepare by keeping business transactions separate from household spending where possible, saving sales and purchase records, and asking banks whether they offer a Women Digital Business Account or women-focused SME finance. A basic record of cash and digital payments may make it easier to explain revenue and plan inventory, though it does not guarantee a loan. For lenders and policymakers, publishing gender-disaggregated data and tracking whether women-owned firms return for repeat financing would help show whether access is improving beyond account openings.

The international report and Pakistan’s new policy point toward a broader measure of progress: not only how many women start businesses, but whether they can keep them operating, reach customers and build sustainable growth. In remote districts, that test will be met only if finance and advice are reachable, understandable and suited to the realities of women’s working lives.

Sources

• Global Entrepreneurship Monitor — Women’s Entrepreneurship Report findings, October 8, 2026
• Global Entrepreneurship Monitor — GEM 2025/2026 Women’s Entrepreneurship Report: How Metrics Shape the Narrative
• State Bank of Pakistan — Banking on Equality Policy 2026 circular, October 13, 2026
• State Bank of Pakistan — Banking on Equality Policy 2026 document