ISLAMABAD – The Bank of Punjab (BOP) has been given Top Bank Award under the Kamyab Jawan Program by the Honorable Prime Minister of Pakistan Mr. Imran Khan at the “Kamyab Jawan Convention 2021” held at Jinnah Convention Center, Islamabad on 24 November 2021.
Prime Minister’s Kamyab Jawan Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme (KJ YES) is a flagship program of the Government of Pakistan. Currently, 21 banks are the Executing Agencies for this Program and BOP has maintained its pole position under KJ YES for two consecutive years i.e. The top-performing bank in 2020 followed by the Top bank Award in 2021. As of 31 October 2021, BOP has disbursed Rs 6 billion under this scheme involving more than 5,000 households resulting in the creation of more than 15,000 job opportunities through a focus on diversity and market penetration.
Under this Program, BOP has ensured transparency and meritocracy by processing all applications through a scorecard-based Digitalized processing system. Loans have been disbursed to Youth from all walks of life including farmers, Urban Communities, and Special Segments i.e., Females, Transgender, and Differently Abled People.
It is pertinent to mention here that BOP is also the leading bank in the industry which has disbursed over Rs 2.7 billion under Tier 1 of the scheme where loans up to Rs 1 million are disbursed against Personal Guarantee of the borrower, playing its integral role in Financial Inclusion of the unbanked/underbanked. Focusing on the Agri Sector, the bank has disbursed Rs.661 million for the financing of over 600 tractors, Rs. 1.3 billion to 1,300 individuals for Dairy Farming. Working towards women empowerment, Rs. 630 million have been disbursed to over 700 females under this scheme.
Bank considers that there is significant potential in KJ YES and has entered into Alliances with a number of corporate entities as well as multilateral including trade bodies, chambers, and Govt. Entities for financing under the scheme. BOP’s recognition as Top bank bears testimony towards the bank’s seriousness towards this important objective of the Government and State Bank of Pakistan.
