A recent development as reported by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday, revealed that the Prime Minister’s Youth Business Loan (PMYBL) scheme has spent three quarters i.e. 75% of its credit limit in Punjab alone.
As per the report, a quarterly growth of 107% has been registered by the loans under PMYBL. This massive growth was observed during the period of months between October and December 2016.
In a region-wise break down, it has been obvious that Punjab contributed to a total of 55,838 applications that account to a total of 75%. The results covered the applications that were received by 31st December, 2016.
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Regional Distributions
The applications that were received also revealed a share of 9% each for the province of Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The report covered the aspect stating:
“The disbursement of loans under the scheme project a similar trend, with Punjab sharing 75pc, KPK having a share of 9pc and a share of 8pc account in the favor of Sindh from the total Loans disbursed under PMYBL”
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif inaugurated this scheme with a launching amount of Rs100 billion. The head of the scheme, Maryam Nawaz walked out with her resignation when Lahore High court appealed the federal government for her replacement.
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The prime minister was concerned about the low expenditure of loans in his visit to Karachi. Being the biggest loan provider for the scheme, the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) was also criticized for this scheme. A sum of Rs20.35 billion from the total loan Rs21.13 billion has been covered by NBP.
During the three month period (Oct-Dec 2016), NBP has been a major contributor to the growth of 107%.
This amounts to a total disbursement of Rs9.14 billion.
With the resignation of the SBP governor followed by the replacement of the president of NBP, speculations rose about PMYBL scheme being nothing more than a political move. This speculation was further supported by the disbursement of 75% loans in the share of Punjab.
According to the report:
“The number of applications that were disbursed and sanctioned under the scheme, Punjab is the largest share-holder with respect to KP and Sindh”
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Finally as of 31st December, a share of 2% each goes to Islamabad, AJK, Gilgit – Baltistan and Balochistan from the total expenditures under the scheme.
