Rains take shine off wheat
The Dollar Business Bureau Next time you munch your biscuits while having tea, there is more than a good chance that at least a part of your evening snack has come from Australia. For, the Indian flour millers and the ones in southern states in particular, have reportedly contracted to import five lakh tonnes of premium Aussie wheat. Any reason? The unseasonal rains have impacted the quality of the grain at home, leading to lustre loss and prompting the millers to depend on the premium variety of imported wheat. “We are struggling to get quality wheat this year. In the wake of untimely rains in February and March, the availability of the premium wheat has become an issue for the millers. ...
Centres support through subsidies for farmers not to benefit banks
The Dollar Business Bureau Governmental support through subsidies may not significantly benefit banks as the amount of support (Rs. 2,500/acre) to be provided is marginal compared with the extent of the losses (Rs 20,000/acre). Also, it is unlikely that the support money will be used by impacted farmers to repay bank loans, said a rating agency report. The government has announced 10% of State Disaster Relief Fund to be contributed to farmers for natural calamities, which translates into about Rs 2,500/acre. The government is also contemplating a loan restructuring or interest subvention effort for affected farmers, aimed at providing relief to the farmers’ debt obligation. While this may reduce the NPL (non-performing loan) classification of these loans, we expect the loan ...
Unseasonal Rains: Non-performing ratio of the agri-loan portfolio could double for some banks
The Dollar Business Bureau The non-performing loan (NPL) ratio of the agri-loan portfolio could double for some banks due to unseasonal rains, said a report. Further, the unseasonal rains were followed by one of the weakest and most deficient (12%) monsoons that the country had experienced in FY15 heightening turning the situation from bad to worse. Agricultural loans grew 16% in FY15 and have contributed 25% to incremental credit growth since March 2014. With delinquencies in the agri-loan portfolio likely to rise, they will add to the already stressed assets of banks (10.6% of loans on 31 December 2014), the report said and added, States highly impacted by these excess rains make up a significant portion (37%) of the ...
