Thursday, 7 April 2011
The Government Will Subsidize the Agricultural Loans
RA government is subsidizing the agricultural loans staring April 1st, 2011. The information was provided today by the minister of finance Vache Gabrielyan. The loans will be provided by three banks: ACBA Credit Agricole Bank, Ardshininvestbank and Conversebank.
The loans will be provided for annual 14% rate, 4% of which will be subsidized by the state and will be given to the farmers with preferential payment terms. The farmers will only have to start repaying the loans after 6 months, for the whole repayment of the loans they will given at least one year. The minister of the finance also informed that 200 villages, where the poverty incidence is much higher, have been separated and the agricultural loans will be subsidized with greater percents for the residents of these villages.
“The subsidy percent in these communities will be 6%. We carry out a policy that helps the most vulnerable communities as much as possible, and we will provide small loans that will be available to the peasant households,” said Vache Gabrielyan.
The minister said that the loans will not be big, around 1 or 2 millions AMD. The banks will provide the loans from their own resources. The minister of the finance suggests that RA agriculture will receive overall subsidies in the amount of 6-10 billion AMD in the framework of this program. The amount of the subsidies in the budget is 250 billion AMD, but it is possible that the number will increase.
