The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said that till April 30, banks have sanctioned more than Rs23bn to 209 companies which will protect the jobs of around 220,000 employees.

In a series of tweets, the central bank said: "The refinance scheme introduced by SBP provides concessional loans at three per cent to any company that commits not to layoff workers for the next three months.

"Over Rs90bn worth of applications from more than 1,100 companies under SBPs refinance scheme to support employment and avoid layoffs (Rozgar scheme) are in process at banks that will protect jobs of around 850,000 employees."

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