The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Rs.360 crore interest on farm loans waived

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Nov 10, 2007
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Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Rs.360 crore interest on farm loans waived

Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Banks in the State have waived interest to the tune of Rs.360 crore on loans taken by the farmers of the distress-affected districts of Wayanad, Palakkad and Kasaragod, according to data compiled by the State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC).

The banks have also rescheduled, or are in the process of rescheduling, the repayment of farmers’ loans totalling Rs.815.53 crore in these districts. As on May 31 this year, the total loan amount rescheduled came to Rs.714.55 crore.

The latest position will be known shortly, when the details from all banks reach the SLBC.

The interest waivers and the rescheduling of loans were part of the package of relief measures announced by the Union government for the farmers of these districts. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had advised the banks to do these vide a circular in October last year.

The package specified certain responsibilities on the part of the State government too.

Accordingly, the State Government released Rs.50 crore to the RBI to compensate the commercial banks for the interest waivers. The State Government also released Rs.68.65 crore to the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development as its share of the amount to be given to cooperative banks to compensate the interest waivers done by them.

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