Farmers in Georgia receive $36 mln in preferential loans for annual crop cultivation

A total of 6,651 preferential loans worth ₾104.3 million ($36.6mln/€36.4mln) have been issued in Georgia since March 22 for the production of annual crops by farmers, the country’s Rural Development Agency announced on Friday. 

The figure comes as part of the Agency’s Preferential Agro Credit Project, which co-finances a 12-month interest rate loan with the maximum annual interest rate of 18 percent, nine percent of which per annum is financed by the state. 

The initiative aims at reducing the cost of working capital for growing annual crops, enabling farmers to produce more quality agricultural products, the national body said.

• Agriculture Minister: farmers to get low-interest loans for annual crop production

The loan per beneficiary is set between ₾5,000 ($1,757/€1,743) and ₾100,000 ($35,151/€34,863) with the programme set to run until October 31. 

Otar Shamugia, the Georgian Agriculture Minister, said in March the Government had invested ₾4.5 billion ($1.5bln/€1.5bln) in the development of agricultural production over the recent years.