State-run Land Bank of the Philippines, the fourth-largest lender in terms of assets, exceeded its target of providing agricultural credit worth P231.25 billion in 2019 by actually extending P236.31 billion in loans to the farm and fisheries sector.
The bank said the amount represented a 102-percent accomplishment rate.
A report submitted to Finance Secretary and LandBank chairman Carlos Dominguez III showed that under the helm of the president and chief executive Cecilia Borromeo, the state lender also exceeded its target of assisting one million farmers in 2019 by 32,982 borrowers, representing a 103-percent accomplishment rate.
Under Republic Act No. 10000 or the Agri-Agra Reform Credit Act, banks are required to earmark at least 15 percent of their total loanable funds to farmers and fisherfolk, and another 10 percent to agrarian reform beneficiaries.
Dominguez said LandBank had been the only lender compliant with the provision of the Agri-Agra Law.
LandBank’s agricultural loans of P236.31 billion in 2019 are equivalent to 26.5 percent of the bank’s total gross loan portfolio of P891.77 billion for the year.