NatWest will provide £1.25bn in aid to farmers facing inflation

NatWest will offer farmers a £1.25bn lending package amidst surging inflation in the UK.

This package follows earlier support and takes the bank’s total lending for the agriculture sector to more than £6.7bn.

The capital will be deployed through loans, asset finance, and higher overdraft limits, and will also help farmers transition to more sustainable practices via NatWest’s Green Loans.

The UK is experiencing 40-year high inflation at 9.1 per cent, as businesses in the agriculture sector face inflation of more than 25 per cent with price hikes of near 200 per cent for fertiliser, gas and fuel. There are numerous other cost pressures on feed, electricity and seeds, due to inflation, Brexit, and the Russia-Ukraine.

Ian Burrow, Head of Agriculture at NatWest, said, “The UK farming sector is currently facing unprecedented cost pressures, caused by a perfect storm of external factors. Inflation, supply chain challenges and the war in Ukraine are combining to cause steep rises in the cost of essential materials for the sector such as fertiliser and feed, on top of the broader challenge of fuel and energy costs that the wider economy faces.”