Minister of Agriculture explains funding scheme for farmers

Tirana, December 30, 2015

In a press interview, the Minister of Agriculture Edmond Panariti has explained the funding scheme provided by the government and the EBRD that will support farmers during 2016. According to him, the government and the EBRD will provide a fund worth EUR 75 million as a guarantee for private banks which will provide loans to farmers through which the government will pay the interest loans of loans taken by farmers.

Panariti declared that “through this fund we aim to generate at least EUR 300 million loans to farmers and we will pay the interest loans of these loans. In this way, farmers will have to pay only the principal amount of the loans they receive.”  According to the Minister, this scheme will be successful due to the fact that the agriculture sector is being developed continually, even without such supporting schemes.

To become part of this program, the interested farmers should have a clear business plan and invest in priority agricultural products, products that are highly required in the international markets. According to the statistics, the agriculture sector comprises the 20% of the country’s GDP and employs almost the half of the working force in Albania.

News source/photo credits: ATA