In a major step towards economic independence, the provincial government has approved the establishment of the Bank of Balochistan, addressing a long-standing demand of the public and business community.
The decision was taken during a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti, with Finance Minister Mir Shoaib Nosherwani, Chief Secretary Shakeel Qadir Khan, Principal Secretary Babar Khan, and banking experts in attendance. The participants reviewed an initial feasibility report and declared the project both viable and necessary.
Chief Minister Bugti instructed officials to prepare a detailed operational plan within one week. He noted that the Bank of Balochistan would provide high-quality and accessible financial services to business owners, traders, industrialists, investors, and the general public. He also emphasized that the initiative would stimulate economic activity and create new employment opportunities for young people in the province.
Officials highlighted that the bank would be instrumental in stabilising the provincial economy while supporting development projects through the use of local financial resources. The chief minister assured citizens that the project would soon move forward, starting with provincial needs but potentially expanding to a national role in the future.
Banking experts, who joined the session via video link, stressed that establishing a provincial bank would make financial resources more readily available for development initiatives.
The idea of setting up the Bank of Balochistan is not new. It was first proposed in the 2007-08 provincial budget by then finance minister Syed Ehsan Shah during Nawab Aslam Khan Raisani’s coalition government. A decade later, in the 2017-18 budget, then finance minister Mir Zahoor Ahmed Buledi allocated Rs10 billion for the project, but it could not be executed due to unspecified reasons.