Bank lending to farmers shrank in the Dec qtr

Dairy farmers are enjoying soaring commodity prices. (Image: Getty)

Fri, 04 Mar 2022

Bank lending to farmers shrank by a net $547.3 million in the December quarter, taking the total shrinkage of agricultural lending in 2021 to $825.3m, according to the Reserve Bank's bank financial strength dashboard which was updated late Thursday.That's unsurprising, given dairy farmers were known to be overly indebted but have been enjoying soaring international dairy prices.But bank lending to business is growing again and was up a net $1.55 billion in the December quarter, with annual growth of $4.52b.However, although the smallest...

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