ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 162

: The LBP is empowered to grant loans and other financial assistance to farmers' cooperatives and associations to facilitate production, marketing of crops, and acquisition of essential commodities.
: By 1993, LBP had extended P9.1 billion in loans/financial assistance benefiting 886,503 small farmers/fishermen through 5,198 cooperatives and 352 rural financial institutions.
: LBP facilitates training on basic operations, management, value formation, bookkeeping, capital build-up, savings mobilization, and entrepreneurship for farmer cooperatives.
: The increase was a safety net measure in response to the anticipated impact of the GATT-Uruguay Round (GATT-UR) implementation, which could affect the agricultural sector.
: LBP shall be provided with low-cost revolving funds from GATT-support funds available under the General Appropriations Act for on-lending to the agricultural sector to improve its fund mix.
: LBP was exempted from any governmental requirement to rechannel its investible funds and deposits to the Bureau of Treasury and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
: The Administrative Order took effect immediately upon its adoption on December 7, 1994.
: The Senate Committee on the Whole recommended that LBP increase loans/financial assistance to farmers as they were identified among the sectors adversely affected by the implementation of the GATT-UR.