The International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group, has approved a $10 million loan for ASA Microfinance Bank (Pakistan) Limited to expand financing for women entrepreneurs and small businesses across the country.

The four-year loan will give the bank additional funds to increase lending to women borrowers and support the expansion of its operations.

The financing is backed by the International Development Association (IDA) Private Sector Window Blended Finance Facility and will be provided through IFC’s MSME Finance Platform, which helps financial institutions increase funding for small businesses in developing markets.

The investment comes as millions of people and businesses in Pakistan still have limited access to formal financial services. Only 27% of adults in Pakistan have a bank account, while the financing gap for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) is estimated at around $57.8 billion, equal to about 20% of the country’s GDP.

Around 39% of MSMEs are credit constrained, meaning they struggle to obtain the financing they need. Women face an even larger gap in access to formal financial services, with their account ownership rate 30.4 percentage points lower than that of men.

Alongside the loan, IFC will provide advisory support to help ASA Microfinance Bank improve how it collects and reports data on male and female customers. This will help the bank better understand the financial needs of women and develop services for them.

The investment is part of the wider World Bank Group effort to strengthen Pakistan’s financial sector over the coming decade, with a particular focus on increasing financial access for women and supporting small businesses.