May 13, 2002	Monday	Safar 29, 1423

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ISLAMABAD, May 12: The Agricultural Development Bank of Pakistan (ADBP) will announce a relief package for its borrowers from the calamity-declared areas across the country, an official source in the bank has said.

According to the source, the decision has been taken on the directives of President Gen Pervez Musharraf. The relief package would allow write-off of both the principal amount and the markup to the farmers of the calamity-affected areas, who have obtained loans upto Rs25,000.

In case of the Balochistan farmers, who have been worst hit by the calamity, the write-off of both the principal amount and the markup will be available to those, who have borrowed upto Rs50,000.

Similarly, in case of borrowers of upto Rs100,000, indications are that the markup will be written off providing that the principal amount has been paid before June 30, 2002. The package, however, does not include any relief for the borrowers of more than Rs1,00,000.

The package has been extended to the small farmers keeping in view the government’s policy to extend maximum facilities to the farmers and to ameliorate their economic conditions.

According to the source, the relief package, which has been finalized keeping in view the announcements of the president, will be made public during the current week.

The package would be available to the borrowers of those areas, which have either already been declared calamity-affected or that are to be declared calamity-hit by the provincial governments.

The ADBP has intensified its recovery drive with the active assistance of district administrations to meet its revenue targets for the current financial year.