Ziraat Bank

Ziraat Bank is a state-owned bank in Turkey founded in 1863. Ziraat Bank offers commercial loan support to companies and tradesmen, as well as personal loans such as consumer loans, vehicle loans and housing loans. During the first half of the 19th century, with the adoption of western models of trade and finance, foreign banks began their activities in the Ottoman Empire. At that period, there was not enough capital to found a national banking system and no one could mention the existence of national banks as a source of capital. This situation was more harmful to farmers because they made up the majority of the population, and since they did not have any institutional financial structure to which to apply, they had to borrow money from the usurers with high interest rates. Under these conditions, the governor of Niş (Niš) province of the Ottoman Empire (now in Serbia), Mithat Paşa (1822–1884) began to take the first steps to overcome these difficulties in 1863 and achieved the reorganization of Memleket Sandığı (Homeland Funds), which became a law with Homeland Funds Regulations in 1867. Homeland Funds was the first agricultural financial institution founded by the state and operated with a state guarantee. In 1888, Homeland Funds was renamed Ziraat Bankası (English: Agriculture Bank), and Ziraat Bank's head office in Istanbul began to function.