Mexico's rural development agency Financiera Nacional de Desarrollo Agropecuario Rural Forestal y Pesquero, or FND, will seek legislative authorization to operate as a bank in September, El Financiero reported.
Director General Javier Delgado said the move will streamline the company's operations and enable more loan disbursements. The move reportedly comes as part of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's goal to decrease bureaucracy at development banks and revamp rural lending by the Mexican state.
The plan to transform FND into a bank will also unite Mexico's rural financing under a single entity from the current system divided among several institutions, increasing cost efficiency, according to Delgado.
AMLO's government has announced several plans to streamline development banking in Mexico, with plans to merge some or all of the state-run companies and change the scope of lending, focusing on financial inclusion.
