LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has created history by providing business loans worth Rs 61 billion to more than 100,000 individuals in just 90 days under the Chief Minister’s Easy Business Finance and Easy Business Card Schemes.The CM was chairing a meeting to review progress on the initiatives, here on Saturday. She said: “For the first time in Punjab’s history, loans worth Rs 23.91 billion have been issued to launch a record 57,913 new businesses within just three months.” She also highlighted the milestone achievement of empowering women through entrepreneurship, noting, “For the first time, 6,753 women have availed loans totaling Rs 3.42 billion to start their own businesses.”The CM directed relevant departments to expedite the processing of all pending applications under both schemes. She also instructed authorities to enable activation of the Easy Business Card through WhatsApp for public convenience and sought a comprehensive plan for introducing targeted loans to support the export and manufacturing sectors. She firmly stated, “The Easy Business Finance and Easy Business Card programs must continue without interruption.”Managing Director of the Punjab Small Industries Corporation (PSIC) Sara Umar briefed the meeting on the schemes’ performance. She reported that under the Chief Minister’s Easy Business Finance Scheme, 3,010 individuals have received loans amounting to Rs 18 billion. Additionally, 104,000 beneficiaries have been granted loans totaling Rs. 43 billion under the Easy Business Card Scheme. Providing further breakdown, Sara Umar shared that out of 74,579 applications under Tier I of the Easy Business Finance Scheme, 2,505 have been approved and disbursed. Under Tier II, 505 out of 12,029 applications have received approval and funding. Of 1,380,838 applications for the Easy Business Card Scheme, 104,133 have been approved.
The CM was also informed of sector-wise distribution of loans 1,312 individuals received Rs 3.91 billion for transportation and trading businesses. 175 applicants secured Rs. 3.94 billion for distribution-related enterprises. A significant number of loans were disbursed for professional services, agriculture, dairy, food, beauty, automotive, fertilizer, and pesticide-related businesses. The Easy Business Card Scheme has seen the largest uptake in the services sector, with 61,996 beneficiaries receiving Rs. 26.13 billion. Another 24,522 individuals obtained Rs. 10.75 billion for trading, while 10,699 secured Rs. 3.69 billion for small-scale agricultural businesses.