Huge loans waived off in past damaged Pakistan's economy: PM

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Thursday said loans worth billions of rupees were waived in the past which damaged the country's economy.

He said they are ready to make any sacrifice for the development of the young generation as the youth is the future of the country.
Shehbaz Sharif addressed a check distribution ceremony of the PM Youth Loan Scheme held here in Islamabad on Thursday evening.

The PM congratulated Sheza Fatima Khawaja and Bank of Punjab President Zafar Masood for launching a successful scheme and also inaugurated the Freelancers’ Card for facilitating the youth. 

Addressing the ceremony, he said that the country's economy is going through difficulties. Still, he believes if the youth get opportunities, their talents can be utilized to strengthen the country and its economy.
He said the ratio of the previous loans’ recovery from youth remained at 99 per cent which is a very good sign. He said they were giving these loans to the young generation for business purposes.
He said austerity measures will save Rs200 billion annually. He also distributed checks among the youth in the ceremony.

PM Shehbaz said the loan scheme was the continuation of the PM Youth Loan scheme launched in 2013 by that time prime minister Nawaz Sharif and billions of rupees were disbursed among the entitled youth.

He recalled that CM Youth Loan Scheme was also launched in Punjab and 75,000 youths were also given vehicles on loan.

The PM said the recovery ratio of the youth loan scheme was around 99 percent which manifested the honesty of the country’s youngsters.

Shehbaz Sharif said that the 99% recovery ratio of the youth and Kissan loan schemes falsified the misconception about the risks involved in the individual loans by the banks.

PM Shehbaz said Pakistani youths never got their loans waived off – a problem that inflicted huge losses to the national economy.

He congratulated the beneficiaries of the loan scheme and appreciated the services of SAMP Shiza Fatima Khawaja, banks and other partners for their efforts to make this program a success.

The PM said considering their immense potential, the government would never disappoint the youth and would scrape the maximum resources to extend them loan facilities.

He announced the federal government would distribute 100,000 laptops among top achiever youths across the country, purely on merit.

PM Shehbaz said those who used to criticize the laptop scheme in the past should have witnessed that the very laptops helped the youth to earn sustenance, particularly during the COVID pandemic.

Earlier, SAPM on Youth Affairs Shiza Fatima Khawaja apprised the audience of the performance of Youth Loan Program and assured that a target of Rs30 billion loan to the youth would be achieved.

She also thanked the relevant ministries, banks, microfinance organisations, business and social media partners for their services and contribution to the success of the program.

She said the agriculture and SME sector would be among major beneficiaries of the loan program.

Punjab Bank President Zafar Masood highlighting the features of the freelancer card, said the freelancers could bring in revenue worth billions of rupees if card was issued and account access was made easy.

He recalled that in the past, the recovery ratio Rozgar scheme was 99% while the recovery rate of Kissan scheme was 99.6% which removed the misconceptions about the government loan schemes.

Earlier, a documentary was played marking the testimonials from the beneficiaries of the youth loan scheme which enabled them to earn sustenance for their respective families.