Central Bank Report Highlights Farmers’ Strong Record of Repayment – Bryan

Commenting on today’s Central Bank report on SME lending, IFA President John Bryan said that the findings of the report demonstrate the continuing strong track record of farmers in meeting their repayment commitments.

He said, “The agriculture and food sector is making an important contribution to Ireland’s economic recovery. Today’s figures show that agriculture and food has the highest proportion of performing loans among the SME sector. Farm families are investing in their businesses and remain strongly committed to meeting their borrowing commitments.”

John Bryan said, “The banking sector must show equal commitment through the provision of credit, at a competitive rate to the farming sector. This is critical to underpin the investment required at farm level and in the agri-food sector to achieve the growth targets set out in Food Harvest 2020.”

He concluded, “In cases where farmer customers have credit difficulties, sometimes due to non-core borrowing, long-term sustainable solutions must be found between the bank and customer, which allow for the retention of a viable farm business.”