The lobby group’s commerce and competition spokesman Richard McIntyre said farmers faced higher interest rates than their urban counterparts.
He said alarmingly, one in four farmers reported coming under undue pressure from their bank.
“Rural banking issues are nearing crisis point and farmers are quickly losing confidence,” McIntyre said.
“Things have clearly gone from bad to worse, with consecutive surveys showing all the key metrics we track heading in the wrong direction.”
He said the results were more than just statistics, and banking issues were having a negative impact on rural communities.
“These numbers represent real Kiwi farming families who are clearly under huge pressure from high interest rates, rampant inflation and reduced incomes.”
The group added another question to the survey this year:
“Do you think New Zealand banks are presently demonstrating a positive commitment to support farming through difficult periods of high interest rates?”
McIntyre said it was incredibly disappointing that only one in five farmers responded with a “yes”.
“At a time when farmers are really struggling, I would have hoped to see our banks stepping up to help, but instead they seem to be tightening the screws.”
McIntyre said there were widespread issues in the rural banking system that needed to be urgently addressed.
The group has made a submission to the government urging it to carry out an independent inquiry into rural banking, which it was considering.
The issue was discussed at Parliament’s Primary Production Select Committee on Thursday morning.
- RNZ
