Agribank ups interest rates

Staff reporter - Interest rates for some Agribank products will see a modest increase of 50 basis points effective 1 December 2017.

The bank’s interest rates have not been adjusted since November 2013, Sakaria Nghikembua, chief executive officer of Agribank, said in a statement.

Notwithstanding the increase in some products, the government-subsidised interest rates will remain unchanged at 4%, while the penalty interest rate on arrear balances will similarly also remained unchanged at 2%. Overall, the bank’s interest rates remain competitive relative to the market, Nghikembua said.

Subsidised loans are loans to communal farmers under the National Agricultural Credit Programme (NACP) and resettled farmers under the Post-Settlement Support Fund. The NACP was established in 1995 for communal farmers to access credit in order to increase food production and become surplus producers, create jobs and alleviate the cycle of poverty. It also serves as a preparatory stage for small scale farmers in communal areas before they could be considered to qualify for the purchase of commercial farmland under the Affirmative Action Loan Scheme (AALS).