Paris - The city of Paris has taken a page from the book of Nobel Prize-winner Muhammad Yunus and will be providing microcredits for individuals not qualified to hold traditional credit cards, Paris City Hall said on Thursday on its web site.

Loans of 300 to 3,000 euros (413 to 4,130 dollars) - and up to 5,000 euros in exceptional cases - will be provided for a period of from 6 to 36 months, at a 4 per cent interest rate.

The money is to be used to finance such existential necessities as a driving licence, a job training programme, or a divorce or funeral.

"We will not finance the purchase of a new plasma television," said the director of a bank working with the city on the program.

The first loans were made available Thursday in the 18th arrondissement, or district, of the French capital, which includes Montmartre. By the end of the year, every district of Paris will have been included in the program.

Microcredits were first used on a mass basis for the poor by the Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus, for which he was awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. (dpa)