Senator José Antonio Castillo submitted a project for Bagrícola to give better rates
With the purpose of seeking to set a limit of five percent (5%) per year on the interests of the loans that are granted to the national agricultural sector, the senator for the province of San José de Ocoa, José Antonio Castillo, submitted a bill for those purposes.
The project states that the loans granted by the Agricultural Bank to the agricultural sector for production must have rates that are between zero to five percent per year as a maximum interest.
The Agricultural Bank has lent five billion pesos at a zero rate, from September 2020 to March 2021, but more than 25 thousand farmers, peasants and agricultural producers have not had access to said financing, according to what was denounced by managers of the Dominican Peasant Movement (MCD).
“It cannot be possible that, in order to acquire a luxury vehicle, which causes an increase in the oil bill, environmental pollution and is a good that only generates expenses for families, the banks grant loans below six percent and to acquire agricultural equipment, to produce food and jobs, interest rates have very high rates, “said the legislator.
Farmer complaints. Castillo also expressed that the country’s farmers complain that in the Banco Agrícola branches they request a series of documents and when the requirements are met, because 80% of the farmers do not have property titles, they find that the zero-rate resources have already been exhausted.
ZOOM
More harvest
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, in the country the harvested area increased from 10,286,847 tasks in 2018 to 10,644,839 tasks in 2019, equivalent to a 3.48% growth, allowing the supply to be achieved by more than 85%.
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