KARACHI: Executive Director, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Muhammad Ashraf Khan,has emphasized upon the banks to adopt agricultural financing as a viable business activity for the development of the agriculture sector in the country.
According to SBP press release issued here Wednesday, this he said while presiding over a one-day :Farmers' Financial Literacy & Awareness Program on Agricultural Financing", which was jointly organized by State Bank and Habib Bank Ltd.
Wednesday at NRSP Training Center, Bahawalpur, he said the agriculture sector has a key role in country's economy and stressed the need for making necessary finances available to farmers for multiple cropping activities.
He outlined SBP's efforts for creating awareness amongst the farming community and developing capacity of commercial banks through its various training and awareness programmes.
Prof. Dr. Muhammad Mukhtar, Vice Chancellor, Islamia University Bahalwalpur, who was the Chief Guest at the inaugural session, appreciated State Bank's initiative to promote farmers' financial literacy and stressed the need to synergise the efforts of all stakeholders to improve access to credit especially to the agriculture sector. He said that academia can play an important role in improving credit culture and in creating awareness among the farming community.
Dr. Saeed Ahmed, Head, Agricultural Credit and Microfinance Department, SBP said the programme is aimed at creating awareness among the farming community about agriculture financing products & services offered by banks, money management techniques and lending procedures, documentations, etc.
Besides, it would also develop capacity of agriculture field officers of banks in agri. financing and synergize the efforts of all stakeholders including policy makers, executing agencies, service providers & farming community to improve access to agricultural credit, he said, adding that SBPs promotional initiatives and policy interventions have translated into around 200 percent increase in the flow of credit to the agriculture sector from Rs. 137.4 billion in 2005-06 to Rs. 263 billion in 2010-11.
However, he pointed out, despite this encouraging growth, the disbursement to the agriculture sector was around 40% of the total estimated credit requirements. "SBP has planned to increase the disbursement to 70-80 percent during the next five years covering 3.3 million borrowers by adopting a multipronged strategy", he added.
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