Govt plans to give Rs1.6tr loans under new programme

ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to launch an ambitious Kamyab Pakistan Programme (KPP) to uplift 4.5 million underprivileged households to disburse Rs1.6 trillion subsidised loans.

In the past, governments had made such plans but they never succeeded to lure the banking sector first of all and secondly customers because of inability to adopt simplified procedures. According to an official statement, Federal Finance and Revenue Minister Shaukat Tarin has chaired a meeting of the Steering Committee and Advisory Board of the Kamyab Pakistan Programme (KPP) through a video-link which was participated in by

SAPM on Finance and Revenue Dr. Waqar Masood, SAPM on Youth Affairs Mr Usman Dar, RSPN Chairman Shoaib Sultan, Finance Secretary Yusuf Khan, Akhuwat Executive Director Dr Amjad Saqib, PMN CEO Mohsin Ahmed, NRSP CEO Rashid Bajwa, HBL Chairman Sultan Ali Allana, BoP President Zafar Masud, Kashaf Foundation MD Roshaneh Zafar, Ex-SBP governor Syed Salim Raza and other senior officers.

The meeting was held to fine tune the modalities of the Kamyab Pakistan Programme (KPP) scheduled to be launched soon. The minister welcomed the participants from the private sector and commended their professional expertise in respective fields. He thanked them for their valuable input/suggestions with reference to the programme and reiterated to ensure its successful implementation through a collaborative and cohesive approach.

He said that the programme aims to uplift 4.5 million under-privileged households registered with the National Socio-Economic Registry (NSER) of the Ehsaas programme. The flagship programme will extend micro-loans to entrepreneurs, small businessmen and farmers enabling them to access micro credit at zero mark-up without collateral.

The programme will enable under-privileged families to break the vicious cycle of poverty, he said. The programme is aimed at extending agricultural loans to farmers with landholding up to 12.5 acres under a “Kamyab Kissan'' scheme. Micro-loans would be extended up to Rs150,000 (per crop) for procurement of agricultural inputs. In addition, loans up to Rs.200,000 would be given for procurement of machinery and equipment. Another component of the programme is introduction of a new tier in the Naya Pakistan Low Cost Housing Scheme wherein loans of Rs2.7 million (for NAPHDA) and Rs2 million (for Non-NAPHDA) projects will be given at subsidised rates.

Similarly, under “Kamyab Karobar”, loans shall be extended for small businesses and start-ups at zero mark-up in both urban and rural areas. Dairy, livestock, poultry and fisheries sectors will be included. Loan size is upto Rs.500,000 for Kamyab Karobar. The cumulative disbursement under the programme would be Rs1.6 trillion over the period of three years.

The programme will also integrate with the government's ongoing skill development programme for educational and vocational training under the ‘Kamyab Hunarmand’ scheme.

Mr Tarin appreciated the motivation and commitment of all concerned who are making utmost effort to design the whole programme and take it forward towards its formal launch to benefit the marginalised segments of society.