ISLAMABAD, June 2: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said that five per cent agriculture growth achieved this year has a positive impact on rural economy and farm income and infused purchasing power and liquidity in rural economy.

Talking to the president of Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL), Mansoor Khan, at the Prime Minister's House, Shaukat Aziz said that agricultural growth this year was better than the targets and it had a very positive impact on rural economy and farm income.

Mr Aziz said increased production of wheat, sugarcane, pulses and increase in livestock sector have given high levels of income to farmers and improved their standard of living.

Ample availability of water and subsidised provision of fertilisers have improved the farm productivity, he added.

He expressed satisfaction over improvement in the operations of the ZTBL which plays a crucial role in meeting the needs of agricultural credit in Pakistan. He said ZTBL should be run on professional lines and it should increase its lending to meet the growing needs of the agricultural sector.

Prime minister said that the new initiatives undertaken by the government in the field of agriculture and livestock and dairy include better seeds, use of better irrigation techniques and improving the farm productivity by using modern methods.

In all these areas, ZTBL can play a major role in funding new activities so as to increase and enhance the farm income.

The President of ZTBL explained various initiatives taken by the bank to improve its performance. He apprised the prime minister that the collections of ZTBL have increased by 30 per cent this year and that these recovered loans would be used to fund new lending in the agriculture sector across the country. He said that one of the major reasons for this increase in collections is the better than expected crops which have improved the capacity of the farmers to pay.

He also thanked the prime minister for approval to hire new Mobile Credit Officers (MCOs) which has happened after a gap of 20 years.

He said that 100 new MCOs have been hired and more will be hired to meet the needs of the bank and to strengthen its outreach and assist in the bank's lending portfolio.