"This is not true," said an angry communal farmer at a recent agricultural industry workshop.
"I can tell you that all commercial banks still demand Title Deeds before they can give you a loan today in Zimbabwe. There is no bank that does not ask for Title Deeds at a time when very few farmers have them because they were just given offer letters from the Minister of Agriculture."
The Stanbic official said: "When we consider loans for you what we want firstly is your viability as a farmer. Your balance sheet, statement from your bank and then collateral.
"We also look closely at your financial records and how you have been farming in the past. After all, we are giving you depositors’ cash and they will not trust us if we just give out their hard-earned cash to all and sundry.”
Former Indigenous Commercial Farmers Union president, Davison Mugabe, also lashed out at commercial banks, pointing out that this year there is no cash for the wheat crop.
Former Commercial Farmers Union president, John Laurie, said commercial banks should think "outside the box" when considering loans to be given to communal and commercial farmers.
Stanbic is one of the three foreign-owned commercial banks chastised by President Robert Mugabe for allegedly "reaping" where they had "not sown" by sending cash back to their head office.
Post published in: News