Farmers’ debts to be written off as from next week

The National Farmers’ Union general secretary Ahmed Alioui has indicated that the procedures for the writing off of the farmers’ debts will come into effect as from next week bringing the number of 182 thousand to 1 million 100 thousand beneficiaries nationwide.

• Some 125 thousand among them contracted debts from the Bank of Agriculture and rural development estimated at 22 billion Algerian Dinars while 49.900 others resorted to the National Fund of Agriculture.
• In revelations made to “Echorouk” M Alioui declared that the blotting out of the debts will not include those contracted during the year 2009, but only the ones whose timing went beyond the deadline and remained pending.
•  On the other hand, he added, farmers who contracted debts during the year 2008 will be concerned by this operation because it was a dry one, but will not include fishermen and fishmongers as the latter depend on another ministerial department.
• M Alioui called on both the finance and agriculture ministries to be fair when dealing with this operation and to give incentives to farmers who paid their debts and “exonerate future credits from interests for a five year period for farmers who paid their debts to boost them”.
• He added that this operation will not be as costly as the one applied to clear the financial situation of companies on the brink of bankruptcy due to financial difficulties such as the giant steel “Al Hadjar” and “Cosider “ group, which cost, he said, billions of Dinars to the public treasury.
• “Badr” bank General Manager to “Echorouk”: we started examining the farmers’ files:
•  In a declaration to “Echorouk” the general manager of the Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development, Boualem Djebbar indicated that he ordered all the agencies to stop the legal procedures against the farmers and to freeze the seizure of their properties in accordance with the president’s instructions. He added that the operation will kick off in a few days from now and will concern some 125 thousand farmers.
• Zero interest rates for farmers who paid their debts.
• M Mohammed Alioui has reassured farmers who didn’t benefit from the operation initiated by the Algerian president declaring that this category will be given fresh credits with zero interest rate putting the focus on the president’s strong will to shore up this vital sector of activity.
• He also seized the opportunity to counter attack those who criticized the president’s move as being part of an electoral campaign strategy and called on the farmers to participate massively in the next presidential elections of April 9th in recognition to M Bouteflika’s gesture of goodwill towards them.