NAB has today announced significant additional commitments including the deferral of interest and repayments, for up to three years, to provide further support for flood-stricken farmers in Queensland. This is in line with the Australian Government’s support package as announced by the Prime Minister on Friday 1 March.

NAB Chief Customer Officer Business and Private Banking, Anthony Healy said NAB is committed to working with the Government to help customers in the region rebuild after the recent floods.

“We welcome the support the Government is providing, particularly changing the mandate of the Regional Investment Corporation (RIC) and enabling the RIC to develop concessional loan products for farmers,” Mr Healy said.

“We have been hearing from our people and customers in North Queensland that the floods have had devastating impacts on communities and local businesses. We know that our customers are incredibly resilient, but this situation is especially difficult.

“We thank the Government for their cooperative approach on this issue. As Australia’s biggest business and agribusiness bank, we share their ongoing commitment to working with flood-affected customers to help them repair, re-stock and rebuild,” he said.

Following discussions with the government, NAB has committed the following for flood-affected primary producers in the 32 impacted local government areas in Queensland:

• Not to foreclose upon, or force the sale of collateral of, existing NAB loans for three years;
• To defer interest and repayments for existing NAB loans, for up to three years on a case by case basis;
• Where the government will provide up to 40 per cent of a primary producer’s loan via a grant for restocking, NAB will offer the remainder of the loan for that purpose directly to existing NAB customers at the rate of 2.44 per cent for those new loans;
• This interest rate will deliver a return less than NAB’s cost of capital and the bank is prepared to offer this in recognition of the significant hardship the floods have caused;
• NAB can also confirm the only security NAB will require for these restocking loans is the stock acquired; and
• The concessional loan scheme announced on 20 February by NAB – $500 million in concessional loans at a reduced rate – will be available to customers with existing loans who are seeking additional support to restructure their existing facilities.

NAB will consider the individual circumstances of customers in implementing these commitments to ensure that doing so would not place a customer in a worse situation or not be in the customer’s interests.

These commitments will apply in relation to NAB’s existing primary producer customers in the 32 local government areas affected by the floods.

This announcement is in addition to the following support NAB has already committed:

• Up to $500m in concessional loans at a reduced rate to support our flood-affected customers in North Queensland to assist in repairs, restocking and re-opening for business.
• $100,000 donation to the Australian Red Cross in its emergency work for Australian communities affected by floods in Queensland, fires in Tasmania and Victoria, as well as other emergencies as and when they happen.
• Funding and in-kind support to its microfinance partner, Good Shepherd Microfinance, to help no-interest loan providers affected by the disaster get back-up and running as quickly as possible to support people via the No Interest Loan Scheme (NILS).
• NAB Assist bankers on the ground in Queensland to help retail and small business customers access support, including financial relief and referrals to counselling.

NAB Media:

Jo Beckwith
M: +61 (0) 411 208 101

NAB Media Line

M: +61 (0) 3 8641 0180