€50m loan fund for agri businesses welcomed

A significant new credit line for Irish farmers was welcomed last week by EU commissioner for agriculture, Phil Hogan, who said the traditional lending institutions such as banks have done a poor job of understanding the nature of the sector.

He said farming is dynamic and exposed to outside factors such as weather and global markets, and traditional lenders have failed to see the enormous potential for growth and profitability in the sector.

Addressing a briefing on ‘Funding Strategies for the Food & Agri Sector’, Mr Hogan repeated his findings that interest rates for Irish businesses and investors are not competitive for the agri-food and farming sectors, when compared with other European countries, and that the lack of access to suitable and affordable finance is a major obstacle to accelerating economic growth.