Private sector struggles as banks lend less July 30, 2021 ISLAMABAD: Commercial banks lending to the private sector fell from 24.1 percent of the GDP in 1995 to 17.9 percent in 2019, checking the latter's economic growth and boosting the former's profitability. These are the findings of a new report released by Policy Research Institute of Market Economy (PRIME), an independent think tank. The report found a dramatic increase of the share of government securities in banks’ investment portfolio from 10 percent in 2010 to 46.4 percent in 2020, which indicates banks have turned to risk-free lending to the government rather than playing a role in allocation of capital to the private sector.