THE Regional Investment Corporation (RIC) will soon be open for business and delivering directly to regional communities and farm businesses, passing the Senate today.

Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, David Littleproud, said the RIC would launch from July 30 this year.

“The RIC will help spur investment and growth in regional Australia. The RIC will administer loans directly to farmers, under the $2 billion farm business concessional loans program, from its decentralised regional headquarters in Orange, initially delivering around 25 jobs for the region,” he said.

“The RIC will also administer the National Water Infrastructure Loan Facility to help fast-track the construction of priority water infrastructure projects.”

The legislation that passed through the Senate today provides for the establishment of the RIC, its functions and governance arrangements, and the Bill will now return to the House of Representatives.

Until the RIC is up and running from July 2018, farm businesses can continue to apply for concessional loans through their jurisdiction’s delivery agency.

State and territory governments can continue to apply for water infrastructure loans through the department at agriculture.gov.au/waterloans.

Source: Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources.