Australia Pledges $1.3 Billion to Help Drought-Stricken Farmers

(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has pledged extra funding for Australia’s rural communities ravaged by the worst drought in 50 years, boosting the government’s support package to A$1.8 billion ($1.3 billion).

“We’re determined to ensure that we get behind our farmers and help them,” Turnbull said in a Facebook post. “This is the worst drought in this part of the country, in New South Wales in particular, since the 1960s.”

The dry spell has already taken a toll on the country’s grain producers, with a report by INTL FCStone Inc. showing wheat exports in 2018/19 are likely to be the lowest in 11 years. Dry conditions are set to continue well into the southern hemisphere spring, Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology said in its latest climate outlook published last week.

Among the measures included in the new package are as much as A$75 million in handouts distributed across sixty drought-affected councils in the east coast states of NSW and Queensland for spending on local infrastructure, and a doubling in the amount of low-interest loans available to farmers. Turnbull also announced the appointment of a national drought coordinator to work with farmers and local organizations.

Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe says the drought is having a negative impact on the economy, telling a parliamentary committee on Friday that the dry conditions will limit farm production.

To contact the reporter on this story: James Thornhill in Sydney at jthornhill3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Stanley James at sjames8@bloomberg.net, John McCluskey

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