RBI asks banks to provide short-term crop loans to farmers

The Reserve Bank of India has asked banks to extend the benefit of interest subvention (IS) and prompt repayment incentive (PRI) for short-term crop loans to farmers till 31st May, 2020. In a notification, RBI said, it has observed that many farmers are not able to travel to bank branches for payment of their short-term crop loan dues due to the national lockdown imposed in view of the coronavirus outbreak.

It further noted that moratorium has already been announced for all term loans including short-term crop loans via COVID-19 Regulatory Package announced on 27th March 2020. Hence, RBI has directed banks not to impose any penalty and continue to interest subvention scheme till the end of May.