AgriBank drops interest rates

Agribank is dropping interest rates on long- and medium-term loans with effect from May 15, the bank announced yesterday.

‘Interest rates on long-term loans for purchasing farmland or for loan consolidation will drop from 12,50 per cent to 10 per cent, while rates for medium-term loans will come down from 12,70 per cent to 10,25 per cent,’ Agribank Chief Executive Officer Leonard Ipumbu said in a statement.Medium-term loans are granted to farmers to buy livestock, farming implements, fencing, tractors and farm vehicles.The interest on short-term loans for farmers will drop from 12 per cent to 9,50 per cent. These cover production costs such as seeds, fertilisers and animal feed. ‘AgriBank took the decision to lower interest rates for these three loans in recognition of the Bank of Namibia’s recent lowering of the repo rate for banks,’ Ipumbu said.Interest rates on other loans like the post-resettlement loan and one to construct houses for farm labourers remain unchanged at four per cent. The same goes for loans to combat bush encroachment on farms by means of intensive labour, whose rate remains at four per cent.The interest on loans for aerial spraying and mechanical de-bushing will remain at six per cent.