First Women Bank Limited (FWBL) is a Pakistani state-owned

commercial bank A commercial bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and gives loans for the purposes of consumption and investment to make a profit. It can also refer to a bank or a division of a larger bank that deals with whol ...

for women with headquarters in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

History

The blueprint for infrastructure of the Bank was designed by Akram Khatoon. She presented it in 1988 to then Prime Minister

Benazir Bhutto Benazir Bhutto (21 June 1953 – 27 December 2007) was a Pakistani politician who served as the 11th prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990, and again from 1993 to 1996. She was also the first woman elected to head a democratic governmen ...

, who approved to set up the bank in December 1988. The bank was incorporated with a paid up capital of PKR 100 million which was subscribed by the state-owned banks. Its original

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...

mandated that the bank would employ women and extend small

business loan A business loan is a loan specifically intended for business purposes. As with all loans, it involves the creation of a debt, which will be repaid with added interest. There are a number of different types of business loans, including bank loans, m ...

s exclusively to women. he first branch of the bank was opened in

in December 1989, and by 1991, it had 15 branches throughout the country.

Ownership

The

Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan () (abbreviated as GoP), constitutionally known as the Federal Government, commonly known as the Centre, is the national authority of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a federal republic located in South Asia, con ...

now owns majority shareholding in the bank. The remaining shares are held by the five big commercial banks –

National Bank of Pakistan National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) is a Pakistani government-owned multinational commercial bank which is a subsidiary of State Bank of Pakistan. It is headquartered in Karachi, Pakistan. As of December 2022, it has over 1,500 branches across Paki ...

Habib Bank Limited Habib Bank Limited (often abbreviated as HBL) is a Pakistani bank headquartered at Habib Bank Plaza, Karachi with regional offices in Lahore and Islamabad. It is a subsidiary of Swiss-based organisation Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development ( ...

, Muslim Commercial Bank Limited,

United Bank Limited United Bank Limited (often abbreviated as UBL) is a Pakistani bank headquartered at I.I. Chundrigar Road in Karachi. It is a subsidiary of British multinational conglomerate, Bestway Group. Founded by Agha Hasan Abedi in 1959, UBL saw its firs ...

and Allied Bank Limited.

Privatisation

The Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCoP) approved transaction structures for the privatisation of First Women Bank Ltd. After a hiatus of several years, in February 2024, the Federal Cabinet of the Government of Pakistan finally approved the privatization of the First Women Bank.

References

External links

* Banks of Pakistan Government-owned banks of Pakistan Women in Pakistan Women in Karachi {{asia-bank-stub