KULOB, July 7, 2009, Asia-Plus — Banks and microlending organizations in Khatlon’s Kulob region do not want risk their money providing loans to cotton-growing farms.
According to the branch of the National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT) in Kulob, all banks and microlending organizations operating in the region have provided totaling 19,464,460 somoni in loans to local cotton farmers to this date. This amount includes an 18,207,234 somoni government credit and only 1.257 million somoni of own funds of banks and microlending resources.
“Local banks and microlending organizations do want risk their own funds any more,” the source at NBT’s branch in Kulob said, noting that last year, local banks provided 12,699,709 somoni of their own funds in loans to cotton farmers.
According to him, the government last year gave a 27,482,288 somoni credit to local cotton farmers through a number of banks and only 56.88 percent of that has been repaid by July 7.
