ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Youth Affairs Muhammad Usman Dar on Sunday said the Kamyab Jawan Programme (KJP) 'might' help create 50,000 jobs by the year-end through further disbursement of loans amounting to around Rs5 billion among 10,000 registered Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) under its Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme (YES).

Loans of Rs1 billion had already been disbursed among 2,190 qualified entrepreneurs since the launch of YES, while the executing banks had approved two tier financing of Rs3 billion for 7,592 eligible businesses, he said in a statement.

Out of the total approved loans, evaluation of 5,402 businesses was still underway, he added.

The Bank of Khyber (BoK), the Bank of Punjab (BoP) and the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), which deal with the Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme, sanctioned Rs four billion soft loans for 28,859 SMEs after scrutinising total 58,031, selected for carrying out the businesses' analysis, he said.

Out of 28,859 SMEs, he said, 14,664 had been rejected by the banks, whereas 6,489 were under processes.

The 'YES' was launched under the banner of Kamyab Jawan Programme in October last year with the seed allocation of Rs100 billion.

Three tiers were introduced under the programme for disbursement of loans ranging from Rs100,000 to Rs25 million among the youth, having workable business ideas. Third tier for a loan ranging from Rs10 million to Rs25 million has been added after the expansion of programme.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020