Sejko appeals to commercial banks: Sovereign guarantee and SME program, boost for lending to agriculture!
The need to increase lending to the agricultural sector, with a focus on investments that increase the productivity and capacity of this sector, through support instruments addressed by the government, was the focus of the meeting that took place today in Tirana, by the Bank of Albania and the Ministry of Finance.
Speaking at this meeting, the Governor of the Bank of Albania, Gent Sejko, said that "this roundtable aims to identify the appropriate ways and instruments to open a new chapter in lending to the country's agricultural sector, which today still remains at a low level."
According to him, this sector provides about 20% of the country's GDP and provides employment for about 1/3 of the population, while benefiting from less than 2% of total credit. Moreover, the trends of recent years are not at all positive.
The Governor appealed to commercial banks that this deficiency should be corrected as soon as possible, if the aim is to promote the sustainable development of this vital sector for the Albanian economy.
Sejko also focused on addressing the measures that have been taken to increase agricultural lending.
"The Bank of Albania has decided to focus its Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Financing Program on increasing credit for the agricultural sector. This program, which has become part of all banking sector actors, offers you a secure and stable base of funds, at low cost, for lending to agricultural sector development projects, including agritourism and the agri-food industry. Recently, the Albanian Government has taken concrete steps in this direction, by making available a sovereign guarantee scheme for loans granted to the agricultural sector. This guarantee significantly reduces the risk of lending to this sector, significantly reducing one of the fundamental problems we have discussed, collateral ," he said.
The Governor emphasized that these two development projects provide a solid platform to take a new qualitative step forward in agricultural lending while drawing the attention of representatives of Commercial Banks in the country to three important moments.
"First, in the narrow aspect of the interest of the businesses you run, I would like to emphasize that the low level of lending to the agricultural sector should not be seen only as evidence of the problems that exist in this process, but also as a potential indicator of the high return that you can secure from investing in it. For this reason, I invite you to give agriculture the attention and expertise it deserves.
Secondly, in terms of overall economic development, the growth of the agricultural sector in synchrony and parallel with other sectors of the economy should be seen as an essential element for the sustainable and long-term development of the country. From this perspective, as primary actors in the economic and financial life of the country, you should consider lending to the agricultural sector as an investment with a positive return on the sustainable and long-term development of the country.
Thirdly, as important actors in the social life of the country, supporting the agricultural sector should also be seen as a moral obligation towards Albania, the country in which you safely and profitably develop your business. Supporting the food chain industry remains a factor of truly vital importance for a country and its population ,” said the Governor.
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