ISLAMABAD, Jun 11 (APP): Agriculture sector credit disbursement during Financial Year 2023-24 increased by 33.8 percent as compared to the credit disbursement of the corresponding period of the last year.
According to the Economic Survey of Pakistan 2023-24 launched here Tuesday, during July-March FY 2024, agricultural
lending by financial institutions totaled Rs 1,635.2 billion, achieving 72.7 percent of the overall annual target and marking a 33.8 percent increase from Rs 1,221.9 billion disbursed during the same period last year.
The outstanding portfolio of agricultural loans increased by Rs 105.8 billion, reaching Rs 818.7 billion at the end of March 2024, compared to Rs 712.9 billion at the end of March 2023, reflecting a 14.8 percent growth. The number of outstanding borrowers reached 2.70 million by the end of March 2024.
The sectoral breakup of agriculture financing during July-March FY2024 shows that out of the total disbursement of
Rs 1,635.2 billion, the farm sector received Rs 876.7 billion (53.6 percent) while Rs 758.5 billion (46.4 percent) was disbursed to the non-farm sector.
Under the Markup Waiver Scheme (MWS) for subsistence farmers against agriculture loans with outstanding balances (including markup) of up to Rs 500,000 per loan that were regular as of June 30, 2022. Under the scheme, banks provided mark-up waiver of Rs 2.96 billion to eligible farmers, where 50 percent of the waived amount (Rs 1.48 billion) was borne by government.
Under the Markup Subsidy Scheme for revival of agriculture/livestock sectors against loans of up to Rs 500,000 to
subsistence farmers Rs 10.05 billion was disbursed to 43,465 borrowers during its term, which ended on December 31, 2023.
Under the Interest Free Loans and Risk Sharing Scheme for Landless Farmers up to Rs 200,000 in flood affected areas. Rs 5.8 billion was disbursed to 47,425 borrowers and the scheme ended on December 31, 2023.
