ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Minster for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Aurangzeb told the Senate that agriculture credit disbursement increased by 82.4 percent from Rs 1,215 billion in June 2020 to Rs 2,216 billion as of end June 2024.
Sharing the details of the amount of agricultural loan provided to the farmers during the last five years, the minister told the House that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) plays a leading role in provision of financing needs to the agriculture sector due to its significance for economic growth, employment and food security in the Country.
The minister apprised that the SBP took a number of initiatives during last five years to increase access to agriculture credit to farmers across the Country.
As a result of these initiatives, agriculture credit disbursement increased by 82.4 percent from Rs 1, 215 billion in June 2020 to Rs 2,216 billion as of end June 2024.
The year wise break-up for last five years is as under:
Year |
Disbursed Amount |
| FY 2020 | Rs 1,215 billion |
| FY 2021 | Rs 1,366 billion |
| FY 2022 | Rs 1,419 billion |
| FY 2023 | Rs 1,776 billion |
| FY 2024 | Rs 2,216 billion |
Muhammad Aurangzeb further told the House that commercial and micro-finance banks may extend collateral free (clean) loans to small farmers as per their credit policy.
However, there is no requirement from the SBP for holding a certain size of land to be eligible for getting micro-credit from commercial or micro-finance banks, he said.
