NBP Capital Limited, a fully owned subsidiary of National Bank of Pakistan, has recently been granted leasing permission by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, said a press release issued by the NBP on Wednesday. In pursuance of this permission, NBP Capital Limited has started its leasing operations from its head office in Karachi as the NBP main leasing arm, and has a plan to extend the scope of its activities to other business hubs of the country.

This would also allow NBP to cater to the asset financing needs of its valuable customers in addition to its existing banking services.

NBP Capital Limited has an equity and assets base of Rs 0.6 billion and Rs 1.3 billion respectively as on 31 December 2004. JCR VIS Credit Rating Company has assigned a long and short-term entity ratings of A and A1 respectively, which is expected to be upgraded in its next review.-PR

Copyright Business Recorder, 2005