الفضلي: «التنمية الزراعية» يوافق على قروض بـ7.17 مليار ريال

The Minister of Environment, Water, and Agriculture, Abdulrahman bin Abdulmohsen Al-Fadli, revealed that the Agricultural Development Fund has approved loans amounting to 7.17 billion riyals, the highest loan approval value in the fund's history. The value of the disbursed loans reached 5.54 billion riyals, which is also the highest amount disbursed since the establishment of the fund.

Al-Fadli indicated in a report (which "Okaz" has reviewed) that the total value of loans provided since the fund's establishment until the end of 2024 has reached 72 billion riyals.

He confirmed that in the area of collections, there has been an increase in the amounts collected, reaching approximately 3.59 billion riyals, representing the highest collection value since the fund's establishment, with an increase of 4.1% over the fiscal year 2023. The cumulative collection rate in 2024 was about 95.13%.

For his part, the CEO of the fund, Munir Al-Suhaili, confirmed that the sectors funded by the fund included "development loans for farmers and breeders, investment financing in major projects for the poultry sector, red meat, greenhouses, and fish farming. The lending areas also included agricultural product marketing centers, automated slaughterhouses, cold storage facilities, date factories, and processing industries," in order to enhance contributions to achieving food security through financing local production and supply chains, increasing the local content ratio, developing marketing and agricultural services, and promoting sustainable rural agricultural development, in addition to several other benefits.

* Areas of lending by the Agricultural Fund:

- For farmers and breeders

- Investment in poultry projects

- Red meat

- Greenhouses