Annotation This book examines the current level and pattern of access to finance for India's rural households, evaluates various approaches for delivering financial services, analyzes what lies behind the lack of adequate financial access, and identifies what it would take to improve access to finance.

This book 'Agricultural Finance by Commercial Banks' is an attempt made by Dr. K. Sivaji, M.Com., M.Phil., Ph.D., to establish the linkage between commercial bank loans and actual requirement by agricultural sectors. Bank finance is an important that the allocation of bank credit must be in accordance with the priorities of the plan. It is recognized that agricultural development pre-supposes a greater flow of inputs as well as institutional and organizational reforms. Agricultural credit is one of the most crucial inputs in all agricultural development programs. New Book

Agricultural production in India depends upon millions of small farmers. However, because of inadequate financial resources, many farmers are unable to receive improved seeds and fertilizers, nor introduce better methods and techniques. It is, therefore, of the utmost importance that the financial requirements of farmers are adequately met. The provision of sufficient and timely credit at fair rates of interest has to be considered as an integral part of agricultural development. However, assistance rendered by way of credit has to be related to specific items of productive work or of essential costs of cultivation. Set up in 1982, India's National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) is the apex institution accredited with all matters concerning policy, planning, and operations in the field of credit for agriculture and other economic activities in rural areas in India. NABARD serves as an apex refinancing agency for the institutions providing investment and production credit in rural areas. This book explains the system of agricultural finance in India and it provides an in-depth analysis of the role of NABARD.

March 1998 Differences in interest margins reflect differences in bank characteristics, macroeconomic conditions, existing financial structure and taxation, regulation, and other institutional factors. Using bank data for 80 countries for 1988-95, Demirgüç-Kunt and Huizinga show that differences in interest margins and bank profitability reflect various determinants: * Bank characteristics. * Macroeconomic conditions. * Explicit and implicit bank taxes. * Regulation of deposit insurance. * General financial structure. * Several underlying legal and institutional indicators. Controlling for differences in bank activity, leverage, and the macroeconomic environment, they find (among other things) that: * Banks in countries with a more competitive banking sector-where banking assets constitute a larger share of GDP-have smaller margins and are less profitable. The bank concentration ratio also affects bank profitability; larger banks tend to have higher margins. * Well-capitalized banks have higher net interest margins and are more profitable. This is consistent with the fact that banks with higher capital ratios have a lower cost of funding because of lower prospective bankruptcy costs. * Differences in a bank's activity mix affect spread and profitability. Banks with relatively high noninterest-earning assets are less profitable. Also, banks that rely largely on deposits for their funding are less profitable, as deposits require more branching and other expenses. Similarly, variations in overhead and other operating costs are reflected in variations in bank interest margins, as banks pass their operating costs (including the corporate tax burden) on to their depositors and lenders. * In developing countries foreign banks have greater margins and profits than domestic banks. In industrial countries, the opposite is true. * Macroeconomic factors also explain variation in interest margins. Inflation is associated with higher realized interest margins and greater profitability. Inflation brings higher costs-more transactions and generally more extensive branch networks-and also more income from bank float. Bank income increases more with inflation than bank costs do. * There is evidence that the corporate tax burden is fully passed on to bank customers in poor and rich countries alike. * Legal and institutional differences matter. Indicators of better contract enforcement, efficiency in the legal system, and lack of corruption are associated with lower realized interest margins and lower profitability. This paper-a product of the Development Research Group-is part of a larger effort in the group to study bank efficiency.

`This is a "must read" for anyone interested in value chain finance.---Kenneth Shwedel, Agricultural Economist --Book Jacket.

Report of a survey conducted in South Kanara District of Karnataka.