Media Release

BankSA will extend its support to drought-affected South Australian farmers and agribusiness customers through access to a range of drought assistance initiatives.

Funding will be available to lend to eligible farming and agribusiness customers at a heavily-discounted variable interest rate, providing immediate and long-term financial relief.

BankSA Executive Manager Regional, Peter Panas, said that as one of the largest supporters of agribusiness customers in South Australia, BankSA is committed to helping South Australian farmers through this difficult time.

“We have a deep commitment to supporting rural and regional South Australia, and with some local farmers doing it tough right now, we are pleased to be able to extend our support.”

The Drought Assistance Package, offered by Westpac Banking Group, includes the following measures to support agribusiness customers:

• Creation of a $100 million fund nationally to provide carry on finance loans of up to $1 million to existing agribusiness customers at a heavily-discounted variable interest rate^[1];
• Giving drought-impacted customers the option to defer principal and interest repayments on existing business term loans and equipment finance for up to 12 months^[2]; and
• Offering an interest adjustment for customers with Farm Management Deposit (FMD) to effectively offset FMD balances against their eligible business loans^[3].

BankSA also continues to offer a range of practical solutions that can provide immediate financial relief to eligible customers, such as deferring loan repayments and restructuring existing loans without charging application fees.

“Drought is one of the greatest challenges our farmers will face and, as a bank, we look to provide confidence and certainty during these difficult times so that our customers can focus on what’s most important,” Mr Panas said.

BankSA is proactively contacting customers to offer help and encourages those experiencing financial difficulties to contact their personal banker or Relationship Manager for a confidential review and discussion to understand the financial options available to them.

 

 

^[1] Business Loan terms of up to 3 years at a customer group level.
^[2] During the 12 month deferment of interest repayments, interest will continue to be applied to the loan balance.
^[3] The interest adjustment will be applied to those customers who accept the offer and will be calculated for the current financial year based on the relative balances of the farm management deposit and the eligible business loans.