ISLAMABAD, Dec 8: Loans will be provided to farmers to bring 25 per cent more land under horticulture development. This was decided at a high-level meeting held here on Friday.

According to sources, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF) Agribusiness Support Fund and banks will provide financial and technical support.

The sources said the task force, set up by the CSF, would brief caretaker Prime Minister, Muhammadmian Soomro, on Jan 4 on the potential of value-addition in the sector.

Currently, banks are providing loans totalling about Rs200 billion to the horticulture sector through a sub-committee on finance.

Guidelines for the project have been developed by the State Bank of Pakistan and the financing will be collateral free.

The sources said that the finance ministry would look into the possibility of a partial guarantee scheme in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank.

An ADB delegation will be meeting Finance Minister Dr Salman Shah next week.

The meeting was also attended by federal secretaries of the Ministries of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, Commerce and Industries, provincial departments and representatives of leading exporters and commercial banks.

Stressing that issues for increasing quality and infrastructure development were essential for increasing earnings, Dr Shah said partnerships between public and private enterprises would be assisted by the CSF.

The CSF is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Finance and the US Agency for International Development.

Briefing the task force, Arthur Bayhan, Chief Executive Officer of CSF, said the fund had been tasked by the Ministry of Finance to undertake a comprehensive study on ‘competitive advantage of the food processing industry: focus on quality, safety and standards’, enabling it to undertake specific work on horticulture.