ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Youth Affairs Muhammad Usman Dar on Tuesday congratulated the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) on disbursement of the soft loans under the Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme (YES) of Kamyab Jawan Programme (KJP).

In a tweet, he said the NBP made history by disbursing almost 90 per cent of the total loans without collateral.

“National Bank of Pakistan achieves a momentous milestone - successful disbursement of 5,000 loans. 90% of these loans are free of security & collateral; a first in Pakistan's history! Our partner banks make it possible for us to enable every Kamyab Jawan in Pakistan,” the SAPM tweeted.

Earlier, Usman Dar told the media that currently the soft loan scheme had three tiers. Under tier-1, loan limit was from Rs100,000 to Rs1 million, whereas tier-2's loan limit was from above Rs1 million and upto Rs10 million and under tier-3, loan limit was from above Rs10 million and upto Rs25 million, he added.

He said for tier-1 loans, there was no need to provide any security to banks as one could get the loan on the basis of his talent. At least four thousands shops had been opened in different localities under this tier, he added.

For tier-1 loans, he said mark up rate was 3 percent, while mark up rate for tier-2 loans was 4 percent, and for tier-3, mark up rate was 5 percent.

Usman Dar said the government was planning to add another tier of Rs 100,000 to Rs 500,000 as most of the applications were received for this type of loans under the YES.

He said after addition of a new tier, the loan from Rs 100,000 to Rs 500,000 would be given at village and union council levels in the first category, while amount of the soft loan would be increased from Rs one million to Rs two million under the second one.

He added that the amount ranging from Rs two million to Rs 25 million would be given in third category, while under fourth category a loan of up to Rs 50 million would be given.