THE South Australian government has announced urgent financial assistance via low-interest loans of up to $250,000 for drought-affected farmers.
Farming businesses in South Australia's Murray Mallee, Riverland and Upper North regions will be able to access loans, under a new scheme announced this week by the Malinauskas government.
The low-interest loans are in addition to existing drought assistance measures totalling $97 million.
The new assistance measure, the SA Drought Loan Scheme, will be funded with a cap of $200 million, and will allow for loans of up to $250,000 with a loan term of 10 years for drought-affected grain and livestock producers.
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Recipients would be granted a two-year loan repayment holiday in which no principal or interest payments need to be made – aiming to give eligible farmers a significant benefit as they recover farm cashflow due to ongoing drought impact.
Loans will have concessional interest rates for the first two years at 50 per cent of the Commonwealth 10-year bond rate (currently 2.41 per cent).
During the last eight years of the loan term the rate would be based on the 10-year Commonwealth bond rate (currently 4.83 per cent).
Over the life of a 10-year loan term, this will be lower than the concessional interest rate of 5.18 per cent currently offered under the Australian Government's Regional Investment Corporation loan scheme and commercial interest rates.
The program will open in March and be offered to 31 December 2026.
More details can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/y6t4n28r
