Agri credit: Banks meet 57% farm credit target

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

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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