FAISALABAD, Feb 12: Habib Bank Ltd (HBL) has allocated foreign exchange of Rs2.5 billion to facilitate exporters, out of which Rs1 billion has been earmarked for the small and medium enterprises, said Zakir Mehmood, president HBL.

Addressing the members of All Pakistan Cloth Exporters Association (APCEA) here on Monday, he said the Bank was already providing the finance facility in terms of dollars, and in this connection 21 HBL branches are authorized to deal with small and medium industrial units.

He said that cotton and textile industry is the mainstay of national economy which is going to gain further importance in the new global environment. He said that HBL has invested Rs45 billion in textile sector and its finance risk has also increased manifold.

However, in spite of the risk factor, the HBL will continue to extend loan to textile sector in view of its growing importance but with extra vigilance and care.

He said that HBL is giving due importance to Faisalabad which can be gauged from its investment of Rs10.75 billion against deposits of Rs8.5 billion.

Earlier, Mian Muhammad Latif, chairman APCEA in his address of welcome explained in detail the problems being confronted by the exporters.