KARACHI: LOLC Microfinance Bank Limited has been honoured with the “Best Turnaround Microfinance Bank” award in the Medium and Small Tier category by the Pakistan Microfinance Network (PMN), recognising the bank’s transformation within Pakistan’s microfinance sector.
The award acknowledges the bank’s recovery on three fronts: portfolio quality, business growth and financial performance. Over the course of the transformation, the bank’s PAR30, the industry’s standard measure of troubled loans, improved from 19.8 per cent to 3.48 per cent. Its loan portfolio grew by 171 per cent, and the bank reached profitability in March 2026.
The PMN, which presented the award, serves as the representative platform for Pakistan’s microfinance sector, bringing together microfinance banks, microfinance institutions and other stakeholders working towards greater financial inclusion.
LOLC Microfinance Bank: what the leadership said
Farooq Rashid, the bank’s chief executive officer, credited the entire team for the turnaround. “This recognition belongs to our entire team. I sincerely thank our Chairman, Mr. Krishan Thilakaratne, for his continued faith in our people and our strategy. This award gives us even greater confidence to build on what we have achieved together,” he said.
Nizar Noor Ali Momnani, the deputy chief executive officer, said the bank’s focus had now shifted to expansion. “This is an important milestone, but not the destination. Our focus now is to go further, increase our market penetration and make responsible microfinance more accessible and reachable for more customers across Pakistan,” he said, adding that the bank planned to introduce more customer-centric products and digital services for the underserved segment.
Ilsam Awfer, the chief operating officer, pointed to the operational work behind the numbers, saying the foundation laid over the past couple of years in credit quality, operational excellence and customer convenience was now producing results.
A sector under the microscope
The award comes at a time when Pakistan’s microfinance sector is drawing close attention from regulators and investors alike. Microfinance banks serve the borrowers that conventional banks often overlook: small traders, farmers and women entrepreneurs who need small-ticket credit to keep their businesses running.
That mission sits inside a wider financial-inclusion push. The State Bank of Pakistan’s financial inclusion index has been tracking how far formal financial services reach into the population, while SME lending crossed Rs943 billion by June 2026, showing the scale of credit flowing to smaller businesses. The sector’s own flagship gathering, the AMC-X Karachi microfinance conference, concluded recently with inclusion on the agenda.
Against that backdrop, LOLC’s numbers stand out. Cutting troubled loans from nearly one in five to roughly one in thirty, while nearly tripling the portfolio, is the kind of balance-sheet repair the PMN’s award is designed to recognise.
What the award measures
The PMN’s turnaround category rewards banks that have demonstrably reversed weak performance through disciplined execution rather than one-off gains. LOLC’s citation points to stronger risk management, operational improvements and a renewed focus on sustainable growth, the unglamorous work of cleaning up a loan book and rebuilding it on stricter credit standards.
The bank says the award is a benchmark for the journey ahead rather than a finish line, with customer reach, operational excellence, innovation and responsible growth as its stated priorities.
What happens next
The bank’s leadership has signalled that digital services and customer-centric products for underserved segments are next on the agenda. Whether the turnaround holds will depend on keeping credit quality tight as the portfolio keeps growing, the classic test for any lender coming out of a repair phase.
For the sector, LOLC’s recognition adds a data point to the argument that Pakistan’s microfinance banks can combine growth with discipline. The PMN’s verdict is that this one did.
Frequently asked questions
What award did LOLC Microfinance Bank win?
The “Best Turnaround Microfinance Bank” award in the Medium and Small Tier category, presented by the Pakistan Microfinance Network (PMN).
How did the bank turn around?
Its PAR30 (troubled loans) improved from 19.8% to 3.48%, its portfolio grew 171%, and it achieved profitability in March 2026.
What is the Pakistan Microfinance Network?
The PMN is the representative platform for Pakistan’s microfinance sector, bringing together microfinance banks, institutions and other stakeholders working on financial inclusion.
