Landbank provides P227-B agri loans as of end-June

State-run lender Land Bank of the Philippines said Tuesday it has provided a total of P227.47 billion worth of agricultural loans as of end-June this year as part of its intensified support for the agriculture sector.

In a statement, Landbank said of the total agricultural loans, P35.63 billion were outstanding loans to small farmers, fishers, cooperatives, and farmers associations.

“This includes direct lending to farmers and fishers which grew by P219 million or 18.37% from P1.19 billion in May to P1.41 billion in June,” the bank said.

Meanwhile, loans to other players in the agri-business value chain stood at P191.84 billion, of which P141.67 billion was lent to small, medium, and large agribusiness enterprises and P50.17 billion financed agri-aqua related projects of local government units (LGUs) and government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs).

The state lender also noted that as of end-June, it has assisted 1,976,689 small farmers and fishers nationwide.

This represents 98.8% of its 2 million cumulative target for the year.

The number is also 18% or 300,825 higher than May’s 1,675,864 tally. The increase was due largely to the new farmers assisted under the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Financial Subsidy to Rice Farmers (FSRF) Program, the Landbank said.

Of the 1,976,689 farmers and fishers that Landbank has assisted, 1,290,240 were supported through the bank’s various regular loan offerings and lending programs jointly implemented with the DA and the Department of Agrarian Reform.

The remaining 218,530 and 467,919 small farmers were assisted specifically through the DA’s Rice Farmers Financial Assistance (RFFA) Program and the FSRF Program, respectively.

“Now more than ever, LANDBANK continues to exert greater focus on driving support for the agriculture sector amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the whole-of-government approach, our strong partnerships with the Department of Agriculture and Department of Agrarian Reform have allowed us to fulfill our mandate of reaching and assisting more small farmers and fishers nationwide than ever before,” Landbank president and CEO Cecilia Borromeo said. — DVM, GMA News