Landbank releases P22B to farmers, fisherfolk

Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank) released P21.9 billion in loans from January to September 2011, benefiting more than 661,000 small farmers and fisherfolk nationwide.

The state-owned bank said in a statement that the amount is 17 percent or P3.1 billion higher than the P18.8 billion released during the same period last year.

The loan releases were channeled through 887 farmers and fisherfolk cooperatives and 296 countryside financial institutions, Landbank said.

Landbank also registered a 20-percent increase in its total regular loans to P237.5 billion this September 2011 from P197.5 billion in September 2010.

Landbank president and CEO Gilda E. Pico attributed the expansion of the bank’s loan portfolio to the strategic efforts taken by the bank to further strengthen its support to its priority sectors and projects with high development impact.

These include farmers and fisherfolk cooperatives, microenterprises and small- and medium-scale enterprises, countryside financial institutions, local government units, agribusiness and food production, agri-infrastructure development, and environment projects.

“The expansion in Landbank loan portfolio is also reflective of the aggressive focus on credit outreach and the gains achieved in countryside development,” Pico said.

Loans to the bank’s priority sectors of P160.1 billion as of the third quarter is 11 percent higher compared to the P143.8 billion registered in the same period last year. This represents 67.4 percent of the bank’s regular loan portfolio.