Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme, Rana Mashood Ahmad Khan, announced today that the maximum loan under the Prime Minister’s Youth Business & Agriculture Loan Scheme (PMYBALS) has been raised from Rs 7.5 million to Rs 25 million.
Addressing a press conference at the Press Information Department (PID), he said the decision, approved by the Economic Coordination Committee and ratified by the Federal Cabinet, will let successful young businesses grow into real SMEs.
KEY ANNOUNCEMENTS
1. Loan limit raised to Rs 25 million. The new Tier-4 offers loans above Rs 7.5 million and up to Rs 25 million at 8% markup, for up to eight years. Until now, subsidised loans stopped at Rs 7.5 million, leaving successful young businesses with no room to grow. Tier-4 will support agro-processing, cold chains, mechanised farming, solar energy, manufacturing and exports. “Tier-4 turns today’s small business into tomorrow’s employer of hundreds,” the Chairman said.
2. Open to youth aged 21 to 45, and from 18 for IT and e-commerce. The scheme is open to new ventures and existing businesses, in business and agriculture, with Islamic financing available.
3. Lower cost to the Government, same rates for borrowers. The banks’ margin on Tier-3 and Tier-4 loans has been cut from KIBOR + 3% to KIBOR + 2.4%, with no change in the 7% and 8% rates paid by borrowers. This saves about Rs 0.6 billion on every Rs 100 billion disbursed, so more young people can be financed within the same budget.
4. Rs 292.5 billion target for FY 2026-27. The Government plans to finance about 266,700 young Pakistanis, creating about 835,000 jobs. Funds will be split equally between agriculture and small businesses, and about three in four beneficiaries will receive interest-free Tier-1 loans.
THE TRACK RECORD
The Chairman said that young entrepreneurs have repaid more than 99% of their loans, with non-performing loans at just 0.74%. “Our young people have repaid more than 99% of what they borrowed. That is not charity; that is credibility,” he said. He declared that “Young Pakistan is bankable.”
Since the Prime Minister reconfigured the scheme in January 2023, 581,341 young entrepreneurs have been financed with Rs 313.9 billion, creating an estimated 1.82 million jobs. This is ten times the borrowers of the previous decade, achieved in under four years. Annual lending has risen from under 17,000 to about 170,000 young people a year. Since 2013, the scheme has reached 638,081 borrowers with Rs 392.4 billion and nearly 2 million jobs. Of the borrowers since 2023, 62% are in agriculture, and more than 121,000 are young women, one in every five, who have received Rs 36.6 billion.
LOAN TIERS
Tier-1 offers loans up to Rs 0.5 million at 0%, Tier-2 offers Rs 0.5 to 1.5 million at 5%, Tier-3 offers Rs 1.5 to 7.5 million at 7%, and the new Tier-4 offers Rs 7.5 to 25 million at 8%. Tier-5 provides interest-free loans for laptops (up to Rs 0.45 million) and for prospective overseas workers (up to Rs 1 million).
HOW TO APPLY
Young people can apply through the Prime Minister’s Digital Youth Hub at www.pmyp.gov.pk or the PMYP mobile app on Google Play Store and Apple App Store. The Chairman stressed that no agent or recommendation is needed, as banks decide every application on merit. “To every young Pakistani with an idea: the door is open. Apply,” he said.
