Faiqa Naseem
Deputy Director, State Bank of Pakistan
Ms. Faiqa Naseem works at State Bank of Pakistan in the Agricultural Credit and Microfinance Department, and has been with the central bank for over 5 years. She is currently responsible for the implementation of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS). The NFIS aims to increase the number of adults with a bank account from current levels of 16% to 50%, while improving women’s financial inclusion from 11% to 25% by 2020. Ms. Naseem manages the NFIS Secretariat and is involved in the development of a National Scheme on Digital Financial Services to accelerate the adoption of digital payments across the country. Moreover as the lead on Gender Initiatives, she is involved in conducting studies, identifying policy gaps, and designing market interventions to improve women’s financial inclusion. In addition she also manages a National Financial Literacy Program with a mass media campaign aimed to improve financial literacy and influence behavioral changes to encourage financial inclusion. She has previously worked on conducting National Demand Side surveys, analyzing branchless banking trends. Before working at the State Bank of Pakistan, she worked in a microfinance institution for two years. Ms. Naseem holds an MBA in Banking and Finance from Lahore School of Economics. She is also an Acumen Pakistan Fellow for 2015 and passionately believes in the power of financial inclusion to alleviate poverty.