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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | An outstanding alternative to farm loan waiver -Suman Layak

An outstanding alternative to farm loan waiver -Suman Layak

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published Published on Dec 29, 2018   modified Modified on Dec 29, 2018
-The Economic Times

The world is no stranger to farm debt crises like the one India is seeing today. Back in the 1980s, the Canadian parliament enacted a law to stop foreclosures on farm debt, after prices collapsed and interest rates jumped to as high as 24%.

The law was in force for a dozen-odd years. It identified insolvent farmers, facilitated agreements between the borrowers and lenders, and helped some farmers move into other professions as a long-term solution.

Neighbouring US was also affected by agrarian crisis during this period, and the 1980s were often compared to the Great Depression of the 1930s. Right through 2018, news of farm bankruptcies have trickled in from across the world. The trade war with China saw a rise in farmers filing for ‘Chapter 12’ bankruptcies in the US this year. The US Farm Bill 2018, a safety-net legislation for farmers, is re-enacted every five years. It was introduced in the 1930s, and then regularly enacted since 1973. It has introduced a revamped margin protection programme, which protects dairy farms when selling prices fall below, or come too close to, cost of production — a situation similar to India, where farmers are facing huge losses in some crops.

A heatwave in early 2018 had led to farm bankruptcies in northern Europe.

The term ‘hidden bankruptcy’ gained currency in the continent — describing farmers spending personal capital to keep farms going. In response, the European Commission (EC) relaxed environmental rules for farmers. In November this year, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand warned of dairy farm bankruptcies in its country.

So, neither is the Indian agricultural loan crisis an isolated development, nor is government action to ease farm debt anything unique. Helping farmers to manage their unviable debt is definitely not a moral hazard, as has been advocated in some quarters. The question should be: is there a way to do it without raiding RBI’s reserves or giving up on fiscal prudence?

Farming is structured differently in India and employs way more people than in developed nations. Giving up farming is rarely an option for a farmer — unless he is economically forced to migrate. Solutions in India, too, will need to develop locally. The $867 billion US Farm Bill 2018 that got the nod from President Donald Trump on December 20 has cues for Indian governments, the margin protection programme being one them.

Also, the biggest expenditure in the US Farm Bill, after the bulk of it goes for food stamps, is insurance at $89.8 billion. India will also see some action soon. Any Indian policy action, be it through legislation or by government fiat, will have to make a solution for the Rs4 lakh crore outstanding farm debt its centre piece. While the debt problem looks big, the immediate problem is actually a lot smaller — around Rs32,000 crore — the ballpark figure for the interest due in this year.

Loan waivers affect only bank loans, leaving aside the non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) that also lend in rural areas for buying farming equipment. The NBFCs often restructure loans taken by farmers who are unable to repay. Banks also have similar tools in their kitty to deal with debt defaults. They have used these for ages to restructure corporate loans.

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The Economic Times, 28 December, 2018, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/view-an-outstanding-alternative-to-farm-loan-waiver/articleshow/67278103.cms


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