Staff Reporter
Islamabad
Prime Minister Imran Khan Saturday constituted a high level steering committee under deputy governor of State Bank to ensure smooth and undisrupted grant of youth entrepreneurship loans to bring success to the initiative.
Chairing a meeting with heads of various banks from across the country to discuss provision of easy loans under Kamyab Jawan Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme, the prime minister also sought regular update on the schemes’ progress.
Finance Advisor Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, Commerce Advisor Abdul Razzak Dawood, Institutional Reforms Advisor Dr Ishrat Hussain, Special Assistant to PM on Youth Affairs Usman Dar and State Bank Governor Raza Baqir attended the meeting.
Usman Dar told the meeting that Rs 100 billion had been allocated for business loans to the youth for three years. So far, around 470,000 applications had been received and the loaning process was in progress after timely scrutiny.
He said under the scheme, the educated youths were submitting their applications directly with the banks and were being disbursed business loans purely on merit.
The meeting was told that 21 banks were taking part in the scheme, which had assured to disburse Rs15 billion loans this year.
A detailed briefing was also given on the mechanism to ease out the loaning process, ensure transparency and merit besides duly publicizing the scheme through media.
The prime minister said that after their contribution to promote construction sector, the banks’ support for providing business opportunities to youth was appreciable.
The prime minister said the youth were an asset for the country and the banks’ contribution to make them utilize their capabilities was vital.
The prime minister assured that the government would not only ensure timely payment of subsidies to the collaborating banks but also address all the issues confronting them on priority.
The prime minister said it was among government’s priorities to assist the construction sector, small and medium enterprises and information technology and sought banks’ cooperation in this regard
