Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers’ Union (ZCFU) president Wonder Chabikwa says the interest rates for agricultural loans have been going up since the dollarisation of the country’s economy, rendering the facilities unattractive to farmers.
“Farmers are not accessing loans from banks as we can’t afford to remit. Interest rates were ranging from 10 to 18 percent and when we dollarised they went up to as high as 30 percent. This has made the loans very inaccessible. Agriculture is a primary industry, it can’t afford those high interest rates,” he said.
Chabikwa said there was a need for financial institutions to consider reviewing their interest rates so as to promote improved production and profitability of the agricultural industry. — Farmers Voices
