Karachi, April 09, 2020: HBL and Ehsaas have joined forces to enable the delivery of the Ehsaas Emergency Cash program, the largest social safety net initiative in Pakistan’s history.
This program has been launched by the Government of Pakistan to support the daily wagers and piece-rate workers resulting from the lockdown in the country due to the ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.
HBL is leading this effort across Sind, Baluchistan, Punjab and ICT, in disbursing approximately PKR 90 billion to an estimated 7.5 million beneficiaries. Under the existing partnership, HBL is stepping up to support this initiative to provide emergency cash assistance with a disbursement of PKR 12,000 per family.
HBL and Ehsaas are already partnering on the Kafaalat program that benefits the most deserving women across the country. HBL, on a short notice, has stepped up to support the delivery of the emergency cash to the beneficiaries, in addition to the already 3 million Kafaalat beneficiaries. HBL is honored to expand its partnership with Ehsaas, leveraging the transparent mechanism put in place jointly by Ehsaas and HBL, to play its part in the relief efforts that the Government of Pakistan is undertaking to assist those impacted by Coronavirus. HBL fully supports the Prime Minister of Pakistan in this initiative and lauds the support given by the Provincial Governments for the program. HBL is one of the two Ehsaas exclusive funds disbursement partners chosen to enable the payment of emergency cash.
Muhammad Aurangzeb, President & CEO – HBL, commented, ‘While the Coronavirus crisis continues to develop and cause uncertainty to all of us, HBL is keenly aware of its duty to support Pakistan at this difficult time. Ehsaas Emergency Cash Program brings together various programs for poverty alleviation into a single platform while leveraging the role of the private sector and digital technologies. HBL’s national presence, largest distribution network, branchless banking platform HBL Konnect and investment in technology and talent, enables the Bank to undertake this huge task.’
Dr Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation & Social Safety & Chairperson BISP, stated that through the Ehsaas Emergency Cash Program, the Government will provide social protection to more than 12 million deserving families affected by the economic downturn due to the Coronavirus outbreak. The Government has laid down detailed beneficiary identification process, SMS campaign, district level verification procedure, wealth profiling criteria, & payment mechanism, thus ensuring rule based implementation to benefit the most deserving.
