KULOB, May 5, Asia-Plus  -- Agroinvestbonk, one of Tajikistan’s largest commercial banks, has launched a group loan program in remote mountain areas of Khatlon’s Baljuvon district. 

Several groups, numbering five persons each, in the village of Sari Khosor have received a loan of 1,000 somonis each from Agroinvestbonk. 

Speaking in an interview with Asia-Plus, Sayfiddin Qadamov, the head of the Agroinvestbonk branch in Kulob, said that the group loan program, aimed at promoting reduction of poverty, provides access to capital and financial support for low-to-moderate income individuals to start their own business. 

“To get the group loan each member of a group numbering five to twelve persons just writes guarantee answering for its partner instead of collecting submitting dozens of documents and recommendations,” said Qadamov.  “Over the first three months of this year, 138 persons in the Kulob region, united in such groups, have received group loans totaling 219,000 somonis from Agroinvestbonk.”

Founded in 1992, Agroinvestbonk, with headquarters in Dushanbe, has main branches in Khorog, Khujand, Kulob and Qurghon Teppa and 57 other branches across the country.