Business

New loan facility for cane farmers launched

September 27, 2022 12:10 pm

[Photo: Supplied]

The Fiji Development Bank has developed a new Sugarcane Farmers Special Loan Facility that will make borrowing affordable for sugarcane farmers.

The Facility focuses on providing additional loan facility including loan top-up for FBD’s existing sugarcane farming customers and loan facility for new sugarcane farmers.

These include those wanting to venture into sugarcane farming start-ups and are sugarcane farmers but not FDB customers.

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Acting Prime Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum officiated Facility yesterday, stating that the government will subsidize farmers’ loan interests.

Sayed-Khaiyum acknowledged FDB for working closely with the government to initiate this.

He says more than half the interest will be paid by the government and through FDB they are making the loan more easily accessible.

“For this particular loan package, the interest rate is 3.99% but the actual interest rate is 9.99%. You don’t pay the 9.99%, you pay 3.99, and we pay the six percent to FDB, somebody has to pay for it. So the government is paying for it.”

Sayed-Khaiyum says a cane farmer can access up to $100,000 from the new facility even if it means they want to venture into other areas of farming.

FDB’s Chief Executive, Saud Minam says application for interested farmers will open in a few days.

“This facility will be ready to go from October 10th which basically means if you have an application which you want to submit, you can submit those application online.”

Minam says for their existing customers, they have a preapproved loan amount which will be communicated to them soon.