Philippines: Calls for small banana growers interest free loans
“We are appealing to the Department of Agriculture to help us gain financing access to banks,” said Romy Garcia, president of Mindanao Banana Growers and Exporters Association, in an interview Monday.
Garcia estimates that it will take two years for the industry to fully recover from the typhoon.
The plan is to ask for the loans to be repayable over a seven year period, with a grace period of two years, where interest will be non payable. After the first two years the plan is that the interest will be chargeable at 3%
Garcia said that farmers are seeking as much as P400,000 per hectare of financing from banks.
Source: gmanetwork.com
