Serbian Minister of Agriculture and Trade Dusan Petrovic and representatives of six banks signed contracts at the Serbian government on Monday regarding subsidising a part of the interest rate for dinar loans aimed at primary agricultural production.

The loans will be granted for the period of up to three years, with the effective interest rate at eight per cent annually. Following the contract signing, Minister Petrovic said that the loans would be granted to registered agricultural holdings, entrepreneurs and small business organisations, and added that some RSD 2.7 billion would be allocated to this purpose from the state budget.

Loans are aimed at sectors of livestock breeding and crop production, machinery equipment purchase and construction of agriculture-related facilities. Loan beneficiaries will also be given the option to use the funds for refinancing their 2010 short-term agricultural loans.