Business loans worth Rs61bn issued to 107,000 people in Punjab 

Lahore: Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz has created history as more than 107,000 people have been provided loans worth Rs61 billion in just three months.

For the first time in Punjab, a record of 57,913 new businesses being started in 90 days has been set, and loans worth Rs23.91 billion have been issued to start new businesses. For the first time, 6,753 women have taken loans worth Rs3.42 billion to run businesses.

A special meeting was held under the chairmanship of Maryam Nawaz regarding Asan Business Finance and Asan Business Card. A detailed briefing was given in the meeting in which the MD of Punjab Small Industries Corporation (PSIC), Sarah Umar, informed about the progress on the Asan Business Scheme.

It was informed in the briefing that loans worth Rs18 billion have been issued to 3,010 people under the Chief Minister's Asan Business Finance Scheme. Loans worth Rs43 billion have been issued to 104,000 people under the Chief Minister's Asan Business Card Scheme.

74,579 applications were received for Chief Minister Asan Business Finance, and 2,505 were approved and loans were provided. 12,029 applications were received for Chief Minister Asan Business Finance Phase II, 505 were approved, and loans were provided. 1,380,838 applications were received for the Chief Minister's Asan Business Card Scheme, while 104,133 were approved.

1,312 people obtained loans worth Rs3.91 billion for the transportation business, 175 people obtained loans worth Rs3.94 billion for trading and distribution, and there was a trend of obtaining loans for professional services, agriculture, dairy, food, beautification, auto, fertilizer, pesticide, and other businesses.

The highest number of people providing services through the Asan Business Card was 61,996 people who took loans worth Rs2613 billion, 24,522 people obtained loans worth Rs1,075 billion for trading, and 10,699 people took loans worth Rs369 billion for agri-small business.

On this occasion, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz ordered to complete the process of pending applications for Asan Business Finance and Card Loans as soon as possible.

Following the instructions of the Chief Minister, the Asan Business Card can now be activated through WhatsApp as well. Maryam Nawaz Sharif has sought a plan for export and manufacturing sector loans.

The Chief Minister has directed that the Asan Business Finance and Asan Business Card programs should not be stopped under any circumstances.