KULOB, February 18, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- The First MicroFinance Bank of Tajikistan (FMFB-T) has provided 165,647 somoni (TJS) in loans to nine farming units in the Vose district, Khatlon’s Kulob region for this year’s cotton sowing and harvesting campaign, Asia-Plus has learned from Fathuddin Amirov, the head of FMFB-T’s branch in Kulob.

Last year, the bank provided cotton loans for a total amount of 158,207 somoni to eleven farms in Vose, Amirov said.

According to him, of loans provided last year, the Vose cotton farmers have repaid 66,324 somoni of loan principal and 17,245 somoni of interest on loan so far.

“In all, we have received cotton loan applications for a total amount of 413,044 from 12 Vose farms to this date,” Amirov said, noting that they had received instruction to temporarily suspend allocation of loans to cotton farmers for this year’s season because of the bursting out global financial crisis.  “I hope the suspension order will be lifted soon,” he said.

In the meantime, branches of commercial banks and microfinance lenders operating in the region have received cotton loan applications for a total amount of 17.257 million somoni from 368 farming units in four cotton-growing districts of the Kulob region so far.  The branch of Amonatbonk (Tajikistan’s savings bank) has received cotton loan applications for a total mount of 10,331,640 somoni.