- Introduced the Sarusaara loan scheme for agricultural SMEs and home growers
- Loans up to a maximum of
- Rs. 1m for 35 crops including vegetable gardens and nurseries
- Aims to achieve food security through short-term returns and sustainable growth of the agrarian economy
The Central Bank has set up a system of interest subsidy and credit guarantee financed by the government to stimulate cultivation in order to withstand a possible food crisis.
Food security through short-term crop expansion and sustainable development of the agrarian economy is the key objective of the initiative.
The New Comprehensive Rural Credit Scheme (NCRCS) titled “Sarusaara” can be obtained by small and medium scale farmers and for home growers up to a maximum of Rs. 1 million (varies by crop) at 8% per annum .
The repayment period for 35 crops, including vegetable gardens and nurseries, varies between 270 days and 365 days (depending on the crop).
More than 30 crops including; Rice, peppers, onion, cowpea, green gram, black gram, soybeans, kurakkan, maize, groundnut, ginger, sunflower, potato, sweet potato, cassava, kiri ala, brinjal, ladyfingers, beetroot, beans, cabbage, carrot, bell pepper, tomato, leeks, radish, knoh khol, loofah, bitter gourd, snake gourd, pumpkin, ginger, sugar cane as well as gardening and nursery can benefit from this loan program.
The loan program is available to all districts through participating financial institutions, namely; Bank of Ceylon, Peoples Bank, Commercial Bank PLC, Cargills Bank Ltd., DFCC Bank PLC, HDFC Bank PLC, Hatton National Bank PLC, Sampath Bank PLC, Sanasa Development Bank Ltd., Seylan Bank PLC, Pan Asia Banking Corporation PLC, National Development Bank PLC and Nations Trust Bank PLC.
