ISLAMABAD
National Assembly Standing Committee on Food and Agriculture on Friday urged the government to waive all agriculture loans issued in the flood ravaged areas of the country.
The meeting which was held here under the chairmanship of Javed Iqbal Warraich discussed steps taken by the government of Pakistan, Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) and Insurance companies to compensate affected farmers.
Total agriculture loans granted in flood affected areas are about Rs 90 billion, out of which Rs 44 billion are deemed unrecoverable. Giving a detailed account of losses incurred, an official of ZTBL informed the meeting that out of Rs 44 billion, Punjab loan losses are Rs 27.3 billion, Sindh Rs 10 billion, KPK Rs 5 billion, Balochistan 0.6 billion and Gilgit-Baltistan, FATA and AJK Rs 1.1 billion.
On conclusion of the assembly recommendations submitted to the concerned bodies urged the immediate to disregard all loans in the region and determined undertaking to restructure the agricultural sector.
