Prime Minister Bruce Golding had announced in May that the funds were for disbursement this year.
The DBJ now says that the pace of distribution is dependent on the interest from participants who must further be assessed to determine whether they qualify for the programme.
The YEP is meant for school leavers at high and tertiary levels who want to start their own businesses. The fund is administered by the DBJ, which says $200 million is for lending, while $50 million will cover administrative costs.
No money has been paid out to date, admitted Pauline Nelson, communications officer with the DBJ. She, however, notes that school leavers are still going through orientation events, business planning and management workshops "in addition to receiving hours of one-on-one support".
The funding disbursements come after.
The DBJ anticipates that the first batch of candidates would graduate from these workshops by September 15.
Nelson said that the first batch of these, 30 candidates, are now being processed by micro-financing institutions (MFIs) and that an additional 70 candidates were expected to complete their plans and then work with an MFI for processing.
"Actual loan amounts are not known and will not be known by the DBJ until the MFIs submit their request for the disbursement of funds," she stated.
disbursements
Harold Davis of the Jamaica Business Development Council (JBDC) had suggested that the number of students to be served would amount to about 100 this year.
But Nelson said the reduced pool did not mean the YEP fund had been reduced, only that disbursements were likely to happen over a longer period.
The $200 million remains available to MFIs.
The $50 million reserved for administrative costs, said Nelson, would be paid to business-development agencies to which training has been subcontracted.
"Graduates are able to access up to $100,000. The YEP was specifically targeting 2009 school leavers," she said. Other conditions were one loan per applicant, and up to four persons can combine for a maximum of $400,000."
Interest rate to the borrower is set at 10 per cent on the reducing balance for the life of the loan, said the communications officer, which would not exceed 24 months.
"But, the actual repayment within the set period would vary based on the type of business," she added.
For tertiary students, a new recommendation was to increase the loan ceiling from $100,000 to $250,000 per applicant, also allowing for two persons to combine for a maximum loan of $500,000.
Nelson noted that, while the prime minister had not set a 'number target', the YEP project team had made the assessment that the programme could engage 10 per cent, or 4,000 of an estimated 40,000 graduates; and that 25 per cent of them -
So far, only 100 potential youth entrepreneurs are in the system.
avia.collinder@gleanerjm.com