QUETTA: HBL as a designated champion bank for Balochistan hosted the second meeting of the Regional Agricultural Coordination Committee (RACC) in collaboration with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

The meeting was held in Quetta on 22 June. Kashif Umar Thanvi, Head Rural Banking – HBL & Co-Chairman RACC, led the meeting and was attended by Noor Ahmed Director, Agriculture, Credit & Microfinance Department – SBP, Rass Masood, Chief Manager – SBPBSC –Quetta (Acting) and Ikram Ullah Qadri, Senior Joint Director AC&MFD SBP. Other senior executives from SBP, HBL, all active banks operating in Balochistan, Government officials and farming community also attended the session.

The RACC meeting reviewed progress on last meetings action items and discussed the way forward strategy to address the agricultural outreach challenges in the underserved areas of Balochistan.

Kashif Umar Thanvi, Head Rural Banking HBL highlighted the achievements of forum in bridging the gaps in agricultural credit in Balochistan and emphasized the initiatives of RACC to solve the challenges and streamline bottlenecks through collaborative efforts of all the stakeholders.

He commented, “HBL is committed to serving the underserved farming community of Balochistan. The Bank will support credit delivery, along with capacity building and awareness campaigns under SBP’s vision of financial inclusion in Pakistan.”

The session concluded with the commitment from all stakeholders to work towards expanding the agricultural landscape by empowering the farming community of Balochistan.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022