The Land Bank of the Philippines’ (Landbank) total credit extended to farmers, agribusiness enterprises and other beneficiaries as of November 2020 has amounted to P231.67 billion, the Department of Finance (DOF) said in a statement.
Cecilia Borromeo, Landbank president and chief executive officer, said in a report to Carlos Dominguez, DOF secretary, the agency released P1.44 billion in loans in November, which propped up the accomplishment of the institution to 94.5 percent of its target of P245 billion in agricultural lending for 2020.
Borromeo said 2,588,627 farmers and fisherfolk were able to benefit from the assistance package provided by the state lender in the form of soft loans, subsidies and training programs as of end-November.
This translates into a 129 percent accomplishment rate over the two million target for 2020 set by the bank, Borromeo said in her report to Dominguez, who chairs the Landbank Board.
Of the loan releases of P231.67 billion, about two-thirds or P144.13 billion went to small, medium and large agribusinesses enterprises, while the remaining third (P87.54 billion) went to small farmers and fisherfolk (P37.38 billion) and the agri-aqua related projects of local government units and government-owned and controlled corporations (P50.16 billion), according to Borromeo.
Small farmers and fishers borrowed a total of P1.34 billion through direct lending, while conduits such as cooperatives and farmers’ associations, rural financial institutions and other lending mechanisms received loans amounting to another P36.04 billion, she added.
