Our investment
Description of the investment.
Description of the investment.
We provided a loan to Habib Bank Ltd (HBL) to support farmers and agribusinesses in Pakistan by providing improved access to essential financing and enhancing their resilience to climate change. With our loan, HBL plans to expand its agriculture portfolio, dedicating 50 per cent of the funds to smallholder farmers who constitute over 90 per cent of Pakistan's farming population.
Impact information
Applies to investments made from 2019 onwards. The tabs in this section define what we expect to achieve through the investment, assessing the potential impact of the investment against six dimensions of impact. You can find more details on our methodology of assessing impact here.
Applies to investments made from 2019 onwards. The tabs in this section define what we expect to achieve through the investment, assessing the potential impact of the investment against six dimensions of impact. You can find more details on our methodology of assessing impact here.
What?
| Impact |
|---|
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How?
| Primary | Secondary |
|---|---|
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Direct: The vast majority of the agricultural portfolio at HBL supports domestic consumption. Therefore, our loan will contribute to improving national food security by securing food supply. |
Direct: BII’s loan is targeted at HBL's agriculture book for working capital (85 per cent) and capex (15 per cent) for farmers, who lack access to finance. The working capital will be used to invest in inputs (which can include high yielding/stress resilient seeds and land preparation technologies), whilst the capex will be used to buy machinery and tools, all of which should improve yields and increase incomes. HBL will aim to dedicate 20 per cent of BII's facility to climate finance eligible activities (e.g. water efficient irrigation systems); this financing will help farmers to withstand the effects of climate shocks in Pakistan and reduce emissions. |
Who?
| Stakeholder | Geography | Characteristics |
|---|---|---|
| Consumers |
Pakistan |
The population of Pakistan was 231.4 million in 2021 (World Bank), of which 84.5 per cent live on less than $6.85 a day and 36.5 per cent face food insecurity. Over 2 million children are estimated to be suffering acute malnutrition. |
| Farmers |
Pakistan |
Fifty per cent of BII’s loan will go towards farmers who are classified as smallholders (less than 12.5 acres). The other 50 per cent will go to the bank’s broader agriculture book, which also includes dairy and poultry farmers of varying sizes, many of whom employ a mix of formal/informal labour, including many women. Farmers are vulnerable to climate-related shocks due to insufficient know-how and access to resources for transitioning to climate-smart agricultural practices. |
How much?
| Scale | Depth/Duration |
|---|---|
|
Based on the average ticket size, BII’s loan is estimated to reach approximately 16,000 farmers. Under the loan agreement, HBL will increase its agriculture portfolio by the local currency equivalent of BII's $75 million loan. |
We expect that the impact on consumers will be most significant in areas suffering from acute food insecurity. For farmers, impact is expected to be deepest for those receiving a) capex which is more likely to lead to yield and production increases; and/or b) climate finance loans to improve their resilience. |
Contribution/additionality
| Contribution/additionality |
|---|
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Financial additionality: This mostly driven by the supply of medium-term (3-5 year) funding which HBL struggles to access from commercial lenders. This will support their asset-liability management. |
Risk
External RiskMacro risk (e.g. economic and political turbulence in Pakistan may affect HBL's capacity to deploy BII’s loan) as well as climate risk (i.e. farmers are vulnerable to climate change such as rising temperatures and shifts in monsoon seasons). Drop-Off RiskOnce BII’s loan matures, HBL may no longer be able to fund their agriculture portfolio at the same scale (particularly the smallholder farming segment). |
Impact score
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Impact score (at point of investment)
The Impact Score is a tool to help us manage our performance against our strategic impact objectives. It is designed to incentivise investments that support our productive, sustainable, and inclusive objectives. The Impact Score shown is based on the 2022-2026 Impact Score methodology. You can find out more here. The Impact Score is published for investments made from 2022 onwards. The Impact Scores are calculated at the point of investment. We publish the Impact Scores of new investments annually, once the information has been externally assured by an independent third party. |
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8 |
Environmental and social information
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Environmental and social summary
A high-level description of the environmental and social aspects of the investment. This may include a summary of key environmental and social risks identified during environmental and social due diligence (ESDD); key elements of an environmental and social action plan (ESAP); or ways in which we plan to support the investee improve environmental and social standards, such as through their environmental and social management system (ESMS); as well as any other priority areas agreed with the investee.
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Environmental and social risk
A risk category rating, which indicates the level of environmental and social risk associated with an investment. For an explanation of the categorisations used, see here. We consistently provide an environmental and social risk category for all investments screened from 2023 onwards.
Environmental and social summary
We have worked closely with HBL's environmental and social (E&S) performance team, as well as investment teams, to develop and build the bank's E&S capacity and management systems.
Environmental and social risk
High
Reporting and Complaints Mechanism
The Reporting and Complaints Mechanism allows anyone outside BII to report alleged breaches of the business integrity or environmental and social provisions of BII’s Policy on Responsible Investing. This includes breaches made by BII, a BII investee, or a portfolio company of a fund in which BII has invested. The Reporting and Complaints Mechanism Rules are available here. Reports and complaints can be submitted by email to [email protected] or by mail. See more details on our Reporting and Complaints Mechanism here.
For any other general enquiries contact us at [email protected]
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Key facts
- First published
:
When the investment was first published on the website database.
- June 2025
- Last updated
:
When the last quarterly update of the website database occurred.
- June 2026
- Project number
:
An identifier number shared by investments in the same project.
- D6473
- Status
:
The current status of the investment (green flag for active and red flag for exited).
- Active
- Region
:
The geographical region where the country is located. We currently invest in Africa, South Asia, South East Asia and the Caribbean. In 2023, BII’s investment mandate was extended allowing it to invest in regional funds linked to Ukraine, with the majority of activity expected to begin post-war. Investments outside these regions were made prior to 2012 under previous investment mandates.
- South Asia
- Country
:
The countries where the investment delivers impact. Where impact is delivered in multiple countries, this is indicated.
- Pakistan
- Sector
:
We prioritise those sectors that facilitate development and need our capital the most. Our priority sectors contribute towards many of the Sustainable Development Goals. They range from investing in the power infrastructure that will provide people with better access to electricity, to investing in financial institutions that direct capital to the individuals and businesses that need it the most.
- Financial services
- Sub sector
:
The sub-sector that the investment is made into; this provides a more granular level of detail than the ‘sector’ information
- Banks
- Investment policy :
- Growth
- Investment type :
- Debt
- Start date :
- February 2025
- Amount :
- $75m
- Currency of investment :
- PKR,USD
- Domicile
:
The company or investment fund’s place of incorporation.
- Pakistan
We provide capital in the following ways: directly – through direct equity, direct debt, guarantees and other non-intermediated financial instruments; and indirectly – principally through investment funds.
Type of investment portfolio that each investment is made under. Since 2014, we have run two investment portfolios: Catalyst and Growth. In addition, our Kinetic Portfolio enables us to manage concessional investment strategies.
For direct investments and fund investments, this is the date BII committed capital to the investments. This is typically the date on which legal agreements are signed by all parties.
For the portfolio companies of our fund investments, this is the date (either the month or the quarter) on which the fund committed capital to the portfolio company.
For direct equity investments, this is the date at which British International Investment exited the investment.
For debt investments, this is the date at which the final debt repayment was made.
For funds, this is the date at which the fund was terminated.
For underlying fund investments, this is the date at which the fund manager exited the investment.
The total amount committed, per financial instrument, per investment, on the date BII becomes subject to a binding legal obligation to provide funding or assume a contingent liability. This information is provided in US dollars.
For direct investments, this is the amount that BII has committed to the business or project. For fund investments, this is the amount BII has committed to the fund.
The currency in which the investment was made.
- First published
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Gender and climate finance facts
- Climate finance
:
Indicates whether the investment is climate finance qualified or partially climate finance qualified and the type of climate finance (adaptation, mitigation or both). We define climate finance using the multilateral development bank (MDB) and the International Development Finance Club (IDFC) Common Principles climate finance methodology. See Common Principles for Climate Mitigation Finance Tracking and Common Principles for Climate Change Adaptation Finance Tracking. We provide the climate finance qualification and type for commitments from 2020 onwards, which is when we launched our Climate Change Strategy.
- Partially qualified : 20%
- 2X gender finance
:
Indicates whether the investment is ‘2X qualified’ using the 2X Challenge criteria. You can find out more here. It only applies to investments made from 2018 onwards, when the 2X Challenge was first launched.
- Partially qualified : 30%
- 2X qualification criteria:
:
2X Criteria the investment qualifies under. See 2X Criteria for more information.
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- Employment
Investee already meets threshold
- Employment
- Climate finance
Related investments made by BII into this company:
| Investment name | Commitment | Region | Sector | Start date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Investment 01 | $121.9m | South Asia | Financial services | April 2015 | Active |
