CANBERRA, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government has announced one billion Australian dollars (686.7 million U.S. dollars) package in drought relief funding for farmers and businesses.
Prime Minister (PM) Scott Morrison, Deputy PM Michael McCormack, Agriculture Minister Bridget McKenzie and Drought Minister David Littleproud announced the package on Thursday.
"We are stepping up our drought response once again to meet the increasing needs as the drought's effects also step up," Morrison said.
"Today's announcement triples this to more than 1 billion dollars since the election, as well as more than 1 billion dollars in new interest free loans, to see people through."
McKenzie said a new loans program for small businesses and making existing drought loans interest free for two years would deliver immediate support for everything from buying fodder to transporting stock and agisting cattle through to paying staff and purchasing new equipment.
"These loans mean farmers and small business owners can do what they need to, right now at zero cost," McKenzie said.
"Farmers will not have to pay a cent for the next two years and we'll keep assessing the program if the drought runs longer than that to ensure repayments are affordable."
