Pakistan is putting its entire Export Development Fund to work. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's office said on Saturday that all Rs24 billion ($86.5 million) held by the fund will now go into investments that support businesses. The goal is to push exports higher through a fund that has just been restructured.
The change comes after the government reworked how the Export Development Fund (EDF) is run. Private-sector experts now lead it, and its money is meant for projects tied directly to export growth, not infrastructure work like before.
Sharif spoke about the change at a meeting on the fund in Lahore. He said the EDF's leadership now sits with private-sector experts after the reforms, and that all its capital is being used to support the business community.
A new 22-member Board of Administrators took charge of the fund in February. Most of the seats went to the private sector, with 6 members representing government departments.
Sharif also welcomed a new export insurance deal. The EDF and the Export-Import Bank of Pakistan signed a roughly Rs3 billion ($10.8 million) SME Risk Pool agreement. This gives small and medium exporters better access to credit insurance and protects them if a buyer fails to pay.
