Banks to be selected through Bidding for Kamyab Pakistan Program

September 18, 2021

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A meeting of the Joint Steering and Advisory Committee of the Kamyab Pakistan Program (KPP) was held in Islamabad, where it was decided to select wholesale lenders (banks) to participate in the program through open bidding, while Givvernment will reduce its Guarantee to 50% instead of previously mentioned 100% .

The Kamyab Pakistan Program Joint Steering Committee and Advisory Committee, chaired by Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin, met on Friday, to review the progress and milestones in consultation with all relevant stakeholders.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the revised proposal will now be submitted to the Economic Coordination Committee for approval and then submitted to the federal government for approval.

After discussion, the meeting ended with the announcement of Open Bidding for the Banks to participate

The government will extend the guarantee for wholesale loans (banks) up to 50 percent.

The meeting also agreed to review the performance of subsidized Loans in terms of disbursements on a quarterly basis, as this will ensure transparency and due diligence in assessing the performance of wholesale lenders in terms of disbursements.

Another feature of the program is to launch a portal, named Kamyab Pakistan Information System (KPIS), with a toll-free number.

The portal will be integrated with Ehsas Program and Nadra database to ensure that beneficiaries are eligible for assistance.

The minister added that this is the first program of its kind in Pakistani history in which banks are tied to low-income segments through microfinance institutions.

He said the program will be launched in stages cover all regions of Pakistan in an effective manner, as the first phase will cover Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Baluchistan and the poorest areas of Punjab, Sindh.

The Kamyab Pakistan Program is idea of Federal Finance Minister Shaukt Tarin, where the government initially planned to disburse interest-free-or subsidized loans to 30 million people across the country amounting to Rs1.6 trillion loans in three years.

The loans are intended for small entrepreneurs, and farmers at 0% mark-up without collateral.

However, now it is believed that keeping in view the limited fiscal space available to the government, KPP will be rolled out initially in limited areas instead of mass roll out, while total amount will also be reduced.