KUALA LUMPUR – The RM800 million Keluarga Malaysia Agrofood Financing Fund under Agrobank will be distributed according to the needs of the main food industry players, said Agrobank president and chief executive officer Tengku Ahmad Badli Shah Raja Hussin.
The programme offers financing of up to RM5 million to small and medium enterprises and producers of poultry, ruminants, and vegetable crops.
“This programme offers a competitive financing period of up to 8.5 years at a profit rate of as low as 3%.
“For the first six months, Agrobank will automatically grant a moratorium at a profit rate of 0%, and customers will start being charged a profit rate as low as 3% only in the seventh month of financing and onwards,” he said in a statement today.
He added that Agrobank is confident that the fund would be able to meet current needs and gradually strengthen the country’s food security position.
During a meeting on Wednesday, the cabinet agreed to implement the programme to ensure the continuity of national food production activities involving eight major food commodities, namely chicken, beef/buffalo meat, eggs, milk, fresh fish, fruits, vegetables, and rice.
Of the total allocation of RM800 million, RM300 million has been earmarked for poultry producers, RM200 million for ruminant (cattle and goats) producers, and RM100 million for vegetable crop producers.
The programme also allocates RM100 million for micro-entrepreneurs, RM50 million for new micro-entrepreneurs, and RM50 million for young entrepreneurs.
Tengku Badli Shah noted that last year, Agrobank had launched its Strategic Business Plan 2021-2025, which also covers the short-term and long-term strategic development of the Agriculture and Food Industry Ministry for the agro-food sector, as stipulated by the latest National Agro-Food Policy.
“Our short-term efforts focus on supporting the country’s food security agenda by directly providing financing support in strategic agricultural sub-sectors such as livestock, poultry, and vegetable enterprises.
“As for the long-term efforts, the bank is committed to increasing financial literacy among the unserved and the underserved communities through free monitoring, as well as programmes on business knowledge and financial management,” he added. – Bernama, June 24, 2022
