KULOB, January 19, 2011, Asia-Plus  -- In 2010, branches of commercial banks and microfinance organizations operating in Khatlon’s Kulob region provided 59,236,302 somoni in loans to almost 10,000 local residents, Abdukarim Nematov, the head of the branch of National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT) in Kulob, told Asia-Plus today.

According to him, 65.6 percent of all the loans were provided to commercial organizations and merchants, 19 percent of the loan went to supporting enhancement of the agrarian sector, 8.4 percent of loans went to funding development of the transport, industrial and construction sectors, and 6.6 percent of the loans were given to labor migrants.

Tojik Sodirot Bonk (TSB)’s main office in Kulob alone provided 15,164,138 somoni in loans last year (94 percent of the loans were provided to commercial organizations and merchants).  Agroinvestbonk’s branches in the area provided 14,144,803 somoni in loans (50.4 percent of the loans went to supporting enhancement of the agrarian sector).

In the meantime, local microloan organizations, Imdodi Khutal and Dahana, provided a total of 3 million somoni in loans to farming units, Nematov added.