Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has increased the maximum loan limit under the Prime Minister’s Youth Business Loan Scheme and Youth Agriculture Loan Scheme from Rs7.5 million to Rs25 million, while reducing the minimum eligibility age from 21 to 18 years.
The loans will be provided through easy repayment instalments to encourage young people to establish businesses and pursue opportunities in the agriculture sector.
The decisions were announced during a meeting chaired by the prime minister to review the implementation of both schemes and progress on providing financial assistance to young entrepreneurs.
Shehbaz Sharif also directed the authorities to reserve 30 per cent of the loans for women to ensure their greater participation in business and economic activities. During the meeting, officials informed the prime minister that 581,341 young people had received loans since January 2023, with total disbursements reaching Rs313.9 billion. The number of beneficiaries was reported to be ten times higher than the total recorded during the preceding decade.
For the fiscal year 2026-27, the government has projected loans worth Rs292 billion for approximately 266,700 young people. The prime minister directed the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) to provide comprehensive support to aspiring entrepreneurs, including business guidance, consultancy and technical assistance to help them establish their own ventures.
He also ordered a nationwide awareness campaign to inform young people about the loan schemes and encourage eligible applicants to benefit from the opportunities.
Emphasising the importance of youth empowerment, Shehbaz Sharif said young people were a valuable asset to Pakistan and that the government was committed to harnessing their potential by creating opportunities for entrepreneurship, economic empowerment and productive employment. Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Youth Affairs Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan and Special Assistant on Political Affairs Talha Burki attended the meeting.
