ISLAMABAD, May 25 (APP): Finance Minister Senator
Muhammad Ishaq Dar on Wednesday urged the public sector
financial institutions to review the mark-up rates for
agriculture credit.
The institutions like NBP and ZTBL should take the step
particularly in view of the reduction in overall policy rate
recently announced by the SBP, he said while chairing a meeting here which reviewed the provision of agriculture credit, particularly by public sector banks to the farmers.
It was also pointed out that the markup rates charged on
agriculture credit by the banks need to be reviewed.
The Secretary Finance, Deputy Governorof State Bank of
Pakistan (SBP), chief executive officers of National Bank of
Pakistan (NBP) and Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) and
senior officials of the Ministry of Finance attended the meeting.
The heads of the banks assured that they would
immediately finalize specific measures for increasing
availability of agricultural credit and rationalize markup
rates, which would enhance agricultural growth in the country.
The meeting also discussed issues pertaining to agriculture
sector, particularly losses incurred by the agriculturists in
respect of cotton and rice crops.