KARACHI: Banks will be given regional targets for growth in agricultural credit to minimize regional disparities in flow of credit, this was decided at a conference held by the State Bank in Lahore on Thursday.

The participants of the conference also decided that SBP would conduct more research studies and surveys of different regions to enhance stakeholders understanding of the rural economies in various regions.

SBP-Banking Services Corporation would further strengthen its awareness campaign and would organize Agri Melas/seminars in collaboration with banks and relevant provincial government departments in different towns. SBP would further enhance its capacity building efforts so that banks are able to serve the rural community in a more professional manner.

The Revenue Departments would take further steps to ensure expeditious issuance of passbooks to the farming community and for completion of the land record automation project.

Appreciating the effectiveness of the forum, it was decided to organize the workshop each year in all the provincial headquarters.

Speaking on the occasion, deputy governor State Bank of Pakistan Muhammad Kamran Shehzad urged federal and provincial governments and the banking industry to make concerted efforts to strengthen the agricultural sector.

He highlighted the initiatives taken by the SBP/SBP-BSC to ensure adequate flow of funds to the agriculture sector. He said that some of the major initiatives include regular review of policy and regulatory environment, bringing all the banks to serve the rural communities, arranging awareness & information dissemination programs, building capacity of banks, conducting research and surveys to further explore the dynamics of rural economy for the benefit of bankers, and establishing regional agri-finance focus groups in all SBP-BSC offices across the country.

Speaking on the occasion, senior officials of SBP & SBP-BSC including Directors of Development Finance Support Department and Agricultural Credit Department explained in detail the status and distribution patterns of agriculture credit and the policies and operational strategies being undertaken to facilitate flow of credit to the agriculture sector. They also spoke about efforts of SBP & SBP-BSC efforts for creating awareness, building banks\' capacity, information dissemination programs, and the implementation of One Window Operation under Sindh Pilot Project. The cooperation of the Revenue department in the implementation of One Window Operation was also appreciated.

Senior officials from federal and provincial ministries of agriculture, livestock and dairy development appreciated SBP\'s efforts for organizing the workshop, which provided a forum to banks and officials of provincial government departments\' to understand each other\'s plans, experiences, issues and concerns.