Dr. Reza Baqir urges banks to promote farm credit using EWRF

KASUR, February 22: Congratulating the banks on the initiation of Electronic Warehouse Receipt Financing (EWRF) for maize crops, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Dr Reza Baqir has said that banks must now extend credit to the farmers to their full potential.
The SBP chief further asked the banks to make it easier for farmers to avail financing as they would now be able to offer banks adequate collateral to avail loans. The SBP chief stated this at the launching ceremony of EWRF for maize crop on Tuesday at an event in Habibabad area of district Kasur, said a press statement. The system designed behind the Electronic Warehouse Receipt Financing (EWRF) is a win-win situation for all three stakeholders including farmers, banks and the collateral companies as it offers a smooth and reliable process in terms of storage of the produce, receipts creation and provision of credit, Dr Baqir said.
He pointed out that last year only 59 percent of the credit needs of the farmers were met through banks, which must now increase substantially. He termed the farmers as the key beneficiary since they could now manage the risks emanating from price fluctuation in a better way. Farmers are often forced to sell their crops at lower prices during the harvesting season due to the unavailability of storage facilities and to meet their pressing cash requirements.
He said that with the availability of EWRF, they will now be able to meet their financing needs from banks. EWRF has also created an incentive for establishing modern storage facilities since it will create the demand for such facilities by farmers.
Dr Baqir highlighted that besides enhanced credit availability, EWRF will help improve food security by minimising post-harvest losses due to the unavailability of modern storage spaces. It will also help in better price discovery that will increase farmers’ profitability and guide in better farming decisions.
He also apprised that SBP has established a high-level Taskforce for EWRF, comprising key stakeholders, to develop synergies and address bottlenecks and challenges in availing EWRF. This Taskforce will be responsible to steer the entire action plan, monitoring performance, and providing strategic direction to boost EWRF in the country.
At the launch event, key stakeholders including banks also shared their experiences of implementing the emerging EWRF regime, followed by a documentary video focused on creating awareness on EWRF.
President & CEO Habib Bank Limited – the pioneer bank in launching EWR based financing in Pakistan, Muhammad Aurangzeb, said that the launch of this initiative has created a great incentive for banks to extend financing to the farmers. It is the right step towards facilitating the farming community and will help in reaping the massive potential in the agricultural sector to contribute towards the growth of the country.
Assuring continued support of Bank of Punjab (BOP) in facilitating farmers, its President & CEO Zafar Masud opined that EWRF would not only assist the farmers in their economic well-being but also significantly help avoid post-harvest losses of various crops. -TLTP