KULOB, August 25, 2009, Asia-Plus -- Over the first seven months of this year, banks and microlending organizations operating in Khatlons’ Kulob zone have provided 31,962,116 somoni, or 54.8 percent of the overall amount of loans allocated over the report period, to support enhancement of the agrarian sector, Abdukarim Nematov, the head of the branch of the National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT) in Kulob, said in an interview with Asia-Plus.

Agroinvesbonk’s branches in the region alone have allocated 16,095,464 somoni for development of the agrarian sector in the Kulob zone, he said.  “The branches of Amonatbonk (Tajikistan’s savings bank) in the area have provided 12,286,557 somoni to local farmers, which is 80.2 percent of the overall amount of loans provided by them over the same seven-month period,” Nematov said.

In all, local banks and microlending organizations have provided 58,375,647 somoni in loans over the report period, which is 30 million somoni more than in the same period of last year.