Staff Reporter
Islamabad
Speaker Asad Qaiser formed a Taskforce to devise a practical strategy for enhancing farmers’ access to affordable production loans to raise agricultural productivity.
He was presiding a meeting of the National Assembly Special Committee on Agricultural products. Governor State Bank of Pakistan virtually attended the meeting as special invitee.
Asad Qaiser stated that Agriculture Sector constitutes almost 19% of Pakistan’s economy.
However, there is wide gap between what agriculture contributes to the national economy and what it gets in terms of lending from formal sources.
The Speaker stated that access to cheap and affordable production loan was very crucial to enhance small farmers’ productivity and help them break the vicious cycle of abject poverty.
He added that the significantly larger gap in demand and supply of agricultural loans warrants comprehensive and dispassionate analysis.
He urged the Governor State Bank of Pakistan to nominate a senior official to the task force comprising members of the National Assembly, President ZTBL, Secretary, Ministry of Finance and Secretary, Ministry of National Food Security and Research.
