KULOB, July 29, 2009, Asia-Plus — More than 10 farming units in Khatlon’s Kulob, Vose and Farkhor districts have begun repaying loans taken from banks this year, Abdukarim Nematov, the head of the branch of the National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT) in Kulob, said in an interview with Asia-Plus.
According to him, they have repaid some 600,000 somoni so far. “They have managed to repay a part of cotton loans due to funds they have earned from selling other agricultural crops,” Nematov said.
In all, local banks and microlending organizations operating in Khatlon’s Kulob zone this year have provided 20,402,302 somoni, including 19,125,221 somoni of state funds, in loans to local farms for this year’s cotton sowing and harvesting campaign.
In 2008, the government gave a 27,482,288 somoni credit to Kulob cotton farmers and 60.17 percent of that has been repaid to this date, Nematov said.
