Khushhali Microfinance Bank (KMB) is rolling out agricultural loans under the Khushhali Agri Plus scheme. As part of its MSME outreach strategy, these agri loans shall aid farmers in purchasing agricultural machinery, assets and other irrigational tools. The loan scheme is organized under the Financial Market Development (FMD) project – a five year technical and training collaboration program funded by USAID in which Khushhali Microfinance Bank is one of the Development Credit Authority’s (DCA) partner banks. With the help of Khushhali Agri Plus, farmers in rural & semi-urban localities can purchase machinery equipment like tractors, trailers, threshers, rotivators, laser levelers, sprayers, seed drills etc. along with allied irrigational tools such as Peter engine, turbine, transformers, solar tube wells and more. In the pilot phase, loans can be repaid on a monthly, quarterly and semiannually, while flexible repayment amount (SC / SC+PA) will be considered after piloting.

At the launch of Khushhali Agri Plus, the bank’s CEO & President Ghalib Nishtar commented: “The foundation of Khushhali Microfinance Bank was laid on the noble idea of providing financial services to low-income households across Pakistan. Staying true to our mission, we are enabling farmers to realize their dreams through the launch of Khushhali Agri Plus scheme. This scheme not only empowers farmers to innovate their farming practices, but also assists them in amplifying their crop yields with the latest machinery.”

As part of the FMD project, KMB is collaborating in three key areas namely capacity building of MSME staff, new project development, pilot design & roll out. Previously, the bank conducted focus groups in Bahawalpur, Sahiwal, and Vehari to gauge customer perception and gain market insights about the project.