Landbank doubles lending window for pig farmers
State-lender Land Bank of the Philippines is doubling its available loan window for local pork producers and feed millers to help the swine industry recover from the adverse impact of the African swine fever (ASF).
Finance Secretary and Landbank Chairman Carlos G. Dominguez III said the government bank has raised its available loan window from ₱15 billion to ₱30 billion to finance swine repopulation and feed milling operations of stakeholders.
The increased lending should help hog raisers, feed millers, and other industry players dealing with supply shortfalls and retail price spirals of pork products, the finance chief said.
Through the additional financing, Dominguez expects it help address at the soonest the supply shortfalls and subsequent retail price spirals affecting both hog producers and consumers.
He noted that the steep rise in pork prices is partly responsible for the current elevated inflation that has exacerbated the daily woes of Filipino consumers amid the pandemic.
The funds is available under the LandBank swine lending program, a special window and interim support to nurture hog enterprises, launched last March in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture (DA).
The lending program is open to commercial hog raisers registered as cooperatives or farmers’ associations, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and large enterprises or corporations.
As of April 15, Landbank is already processing six loan applications for the Swine lending from Tarlac, Cavite, Rizal, Bukidnon and South Cotabato, amounting to ₱2.96 billion combined.
Loans under the program shall be used for swine production, which includes the acquisition or importation of semen or breeding animals; feed milling operations; the construction, improvement or retrofitting of necessary facilities.
Eligible borrowers may avail of a short-term loan line or a term loan for up to 80 percent of their total project cost or financing requirement, with a fixed interest rate of 3.0 percent per annum for three years, subject to annual repricing thereafter.