Business

Agri credit: Banks meet 57% farm credit target

Give loans of Rs218b to farmers in eight months of FY14.

Our Correspondent March 21, 2014

Rs113b is the amount farmers borrowed from five major commercial banks in JulyFebruary 2013-14. PHOTO: FILE

KARACHI: Banks gave loans of Rs218.3 billion to farmers in the first eight months (July-February) of the current fiscal year, reaching 57.4% of the annual agriculture credit target of Rs380 billion, showed data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday.

The disbursement is 11% higher than Rs196.1 billion lent to the farmers in July-February of previous fiscal year.

Outstanding portfolio of agriculture loans increased by Rs39.3 billion, or 16.8%, to Rs273.4 billion at the end of February 2014 compared to the corresponding period of last year.

Five major commercial banks as a group disbursed Rs113 billion, meeting 60.1% of their annual target, and the amount was higher by 8.5% from Rs104.2 billion provided to the growers in the same period last year.

Among big banks, MCB Bank achieved 65.5% of its target, Habib Bank and National Bank 63.3% each, United Bank 51.8% and Allied Bank 49.3%.

Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited, a specialised bank, despite having a large rural branch network and infrastructure could manage to reach only 54.8% of its target. It lent the farmers Rs38.1 billion against the target of Rs69.5 billion.

Punjab Provincial Cooperative Bank, another specialised bank, achieved 50% of its target of Rs10 billion as it disbursed Rs5 billion.

Fourteen domestic private banks collectively hit 52.2% of their annual target. Of these, Bank Al Habib achieved 69.5% of its target, The Bank of Punjab 66.1%, Sindh Bank 56.9%, Soneri Bank 52.8%, Faysal Bank 51.9%, Bank Alfalah 51.6% and The Bank of Khyber 50.3%.

Seven microfinance banks, as a group, loaned farmers Rs14.6 billion, touching 67.6% of their annual target of Rs21.6 billion. Among them, Tameer Microfinance Bank surpassed its target by disbursing Rs131.3 million while U Microfinance Bank achieved 91% of the target, Pak Oman Microfinance 87.3%, Khushhali Bank 77.7% and NRSP Microfinance Bank 64.9%.

The First Microfinance Bank and Waseela Bank could achieve only 51.1% and 30.4% of their targets respectively.

Three Islamic banks reached 47.6% of their annual target during July-February 2013-14.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 22^nd, 2014.

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