Govt to lower bank loan interest for farmers to 5 pc

New Delhi, Sep 13 (UNI) After announcing a Rs 66,477 crore farm debt waiver and relief scheme to benefit 36.4 million farmers across the nation, the UPA government today committed to bring down bank loan interest for farmers to 5 per cent.

The announcement was made by Minister of State for Agriculture, Consumer Affairs, Food&Public Distribution Akhilesh Prasad Singh at a function here.

Speaking at 'Warehousing 2008', he said the government had brought down the rate of interest on bank loans to farmers from a high of 15 to 7 per cent and added, ''We are committed to bringing the interest rate further to 5 per cent''.

On successful implementation of the Warehousing (Development&Regulation)Act, Dr Singh said his ministry was evolving a set of rules and regulations to achieve the objective. It will set up a regulatory authority to oversee certification and accreditation of warehouses to enable them to issue warehouse receipts.

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