By Commerce Reporter
LAHORE:The federal government has constituted a high-level Agriculture Finance Sub-Committee under the Access to Finance (A2F) Steering Committee to accelerate reforms aimed at improving farmers’ access to formal financing and addressing long-standing bottlenecks in agricultural credit.
Welcoming the initiative, Aamer Hayyat Bhandara, co-founder of The Agriculture Republic and founder of Digital Dera, termed the formation of the committee a timely step towards strengthening collaboration between policymakers, financial institutions and the agriculture sector. As a member of the newly constituted body, he said the forum would help remove structural impediments to agricultural financing and facilitate practical reforms aimed at expanding farmers’ access to formal credit and modern financial services.
According to a notification issued by the Finance Division, the committee will be chaired by the Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), while the Adviser to the Finance Minister on Special Initiatives will serve as co-chair. The committee has been mandated to identify challenges in agricultural finance, formulate actionable reforms and monitor their implementation through a structured governance framework.
The committee comprises the Secretary, Ministry of National Food Security and Research, the Prime Minister’s Coordinator on Agriculture, the Chief Executive Officer of the Pakistan Banks Association, secretaries of provincial agriculture departments and heads of agriculture business from leading financial institutions. Aamer Hayyat Bhandara, representing Digital Dera, and representatives of the Pakistan Agricultural Coalition are also members, while experts from relevant government departments, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), InfraZamin, NCGCL and the private sector may be co-opted whenever required.
The notification assigns the sub-committee the responsibility of identifying key impediments to agricultural financing, defining priority action drivers, recommending measures to enhance access to finance and overseeing the implementation of reform initiatives. The committee will also conduct weekly reviews of progress and escalate unresolved issues to the A2F Steering Committee where higher-level intervention is needed.
To ensure timely implementation, the Finance Division has introduced Resolution Target Dates (RTDs), setting a 30-day timeline for quick-win initiatives, 60 to 90 days for more complex issues and up to 120 days for structural reforms.
Under the governance framework, the committee will review key performance indicators (KPIs) at every meeting by comparing baseline, current and target performance over 12- and 24-month periods. Any KPI falling into the red category will require a corrective action plan within 48 hours. The committee’s terms of reference will be reviewed every six months or upon completion of major workstreams to ensure continued effectiveness.
Bhandara said the establishment of the Agriculture Finance Sub-Committee reflected the government’s commitment to strengthening institutional coordination between policymakers, regulators, commercial banks and the agriculture sector. He expressed confidence that the committee would contribute to expanding access to formal financial services, promoting sustainable agricultural growth and ensuring effective implementation of agriculture finance reforms through improved governance, accountability and measurable outcomes.
