KARACHI, March 20: Five big commercial banks and 14 domestic private banks have significantly diverted their credit flow towards the agriculture sector.

While the overall credit flows to agriculture sector increased by 30 per cent to Rs120.442 billion in the last eight months (July-Feb 2007-08), five big banks increased their farm lending by 33.62 per cent.

The big five banks (National Bank, Habib Bank, MCB Bank, United Bank and Allied Bank) supplied a total credit of Rs58.026 billion compared to Rs43.602 billion during the corresponding period of last year.

The 14 domestic private banks also loaned a total of Rs25.530 billion during July-Feb ‘08 period, up 91.60 per cent compared to Rs13.324 billion disbursed last year.

A State Bank release issued on Thursday said the banks had disbursed Rs120.442 billion to the agriculture sector during July-Feb ‘08 period as compared to Rs92.319 billion in the same period last year, showing an increase of Rs28.123 billion.

Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL), the largest specialised bank, has disbursed Rs33.012 billion in July-Feb period, compared with Rs30.745 billion last year. The disbursement by Punjab Provincial Co-operative Bank Limited (PPCBL) stood at Rs3.873 billion compared to Rs4.824 billion last year.

The State Bank has set an indicative target of Rs200 billion for the current fiscal year, up from Rs160 billion last year, showing an increase of Rs40 billion.

During the last fiscal year, commercial and specialised banks had disbursed a total of Rs168.3 billion to the agriculture sector.