ANGELA NDUBA, Lusaka
INDO-ZAMBIA Bank (IZB) has disbursed in excess of K800 million to various small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and farmers as at June 30, 2017.
Of the total amount, about K440 million was channelled to support SMEs while K360 million was to small-scale farmers, IZB managing director Maheshkumar Bansal has said.
And Mr Bansal said the performance of the economy is buoyant on account of the various on-going Government initiatives.
He said at the just-ended Agricultural and Commercial Show that the bank’s credit portfolio to small-scale farmers and SMEs is still growing.
The bank is supporting SMEs in various sectors in rural, semi-urban and urban areas.
“The bank is also providing its products and services to people in rural areas to support the financial inclusion policy,” Mr Bansal said.
He said the bank is trying to capture as many peasant farmers as possible to ensure the country maintains the bumper harvest.
Mr Bansal said the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) is paying farmers through the bank.
IZB also provides micro-financing catering for those into small-scale agriculture and rearing of chickens, among other economic activities.
He appealed to co-operatives to approach the bank and access finance.
“Self-help groups are also free to come to the bank, we will assess them and assist those that are bankable,” he said.
Mr Bansal said the bank also provides online electronic products to make it easy for customers to carry out various transactions.
On expanding its products, Mr Bansal said the bank will instal and operationalise point-of-sale machines before the end of this month.
“We are committed to providing international banking products and services to our customers,” he said.
And Mr Bansal said the bank is committed to supplementing Government’s efforts in growing the economy, especially in the agriculture sector and SMEs.
“We commend Government for its efforts in growing the economy by putting in place conducive policies, and we are here to supplement by providing financing to the various sectors,” he said.
