The State government is yet to receive a reply from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on its request that the moratorium on farmers’ loans be extended till December 31, Agriculture Minister V.S. Sunil Kumar has said.
The moratorium, declared in the aftermath of the August 2018 floods, ended on Wednesday (July 31).
The Agriculture Minister told reporters here on Wednesday that he would discuss the matter with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to decide the future course of action. The government would discuss the matter with the State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC), he said.
Mr. Sunil Kumar had met RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on July 10 seeking RBI approval for the extension of the moratorium on debt recovery. He had also requested him to extend the deadline for the rescheduling of loans taken by farmers till September 30 this year.
 
Meanwhile, a high-level Central team, led by a senior functionary of the Union Agriculture Ministry, visited five districts in response to the Agriculture Department’s complaint regarding widespread misuse of agricultural gold loans will file its report in three days. The team visited 30 rural and urban banks in Idukki, Thrissur, Ernakulam, Kottayam and Pathanamthitta.