Government's decision on unpaid loans taken by paddy farmers

Cabinet approval has been received to write off unpaid farm loans taken by paddy farmers.

The related proposal has been submitted by Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe.

The approval of the Council of Ministers has been received for taking loans from government banks for paddy cultivation on land of two hectares or less, and to cut off the defaulted loan amount from the said loan money.

Due to the direct and indirect pollution faced by the farmers due to the covid-19 epidemic situation, the Easter attack and farmers switching to organic fertilizers instead of chemical fertilizers, the relevant loan payments have been defaulted.

Accordingly, the banks have worked to classify the loans taken by the farmers as non-performing loans.

Due to that, this decision has been taken considering the difficulty farmers will face in getting loans for paddy cultivation in the upcoming season.