Tuesday, June 14 2011 19:10
Government and Central Bank of Armenia considering capacities of second stage of national program to subsidize agriculture
ArmInfo. The Government and the Central Bank of Armenia are considering the capacities of the second stage of the national program to subsidize agriculture, President of the Central Bank of Armenia Artur Javadyan said during a press-conference today.
He said that the program will be continued in late Aug-early Sept 2011.
As of today 12,000 farms have been lent 7.5bln AMD through the agency of 4 banks. 90% of the loans have been issued by ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank, 165mln AMD by ProCredit Bank, with the rest by Ardshininvestbank and Converse Bank. The additional package of loans worth 100mln AMD has already been approved.
The program was launched Apr 1 2011. The interest on the loans is 14% with 4% subsidized by the Government. For very poor farmers this figure is 6% with relevant loans making up 13-15% of the total lending. The loans are provided in AMD. The average amount of one loan is 625,000 AMD.
"This program is crucial for our economy. It offers very soft terms, particularly, six-month grace period," Javadyan said.
According to the Ranking of Commercial Banks of Armenia prepared by ArmInfo, as of Apr 1 2011 the agricultural loan book of Armenia's banking system totalled 60bln AMD (6% of the total loan book) - 10% more than in Q1 2010. ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank is the leader in this field - 52% of its loans are given to agriculture.