WB ranks Pakistan first in corporate governance: Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: World Bank Report “Getting Finance in South Asia 2009” has ranked Pakistan first in the areas of corporate governance, performance and efficiency.

In the area of access to finance, Sri Lanka ranks first in South Asia, on capital market development and market concentration and competitiveness in the banking sector first slot is grabbed by India.

According to the detailed report on Pakistan the bond market is developing at a lesser pace. The domestic bond outstanding was 25.16 percent of the GDP, equivalent to $32.41 billion. This consists of mainly government bonds, as the corporate market is yet to develop.

The areas on which Pakistan needs to focus are access to finance capital market development, and market concentration.

Access to Finance: Pakistan needs to focus on improving financial outreach through its commercial banking sector. Demographic branch penetration is low with around five bank branches per 100,000 people during the six-year period. To promote branch openings in rural areas, the SBP has introduced the Annual Branch Licensing Policy, which requires commercial banks with 100 branches or more to open at least 20 percent of their branches outside big cities and set up branches in Tehsil Headquarters, where no branch of any bank exists.

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