The Tonga Development Bank will allocate a $2.5 million fund to be made available for loans to squash growers this year, according to the bank's Commercial Loans Manager, Simi Sefanaia.

Simi said that the TDB was willing to support the industry and would continue to make available to squash growers the same amount that it allocated last year, $2.5 million.

The 2003 squash season was considered to be the worst season ever. The Japanese market was flooded with squash from Tonga and from other countries and therefore the price that Japanese growers were able to pay for Tongan squash was only enough to pay for the sea freight.

Simi said that to date last year's squash growers had outstanding loans of $1.3 million, plus another $2 million that had been borrowed by the Tonga Squash Council to be paid by growers. The $2 million loan is to be guaranteed by government but to be repaid by the growers from their earnings this year. Simi said that the loan was granted before the end of February, but growers who had outstanding loans with the TDB did not receive disbursements because their earnings went toward repaying their loans.

This had left the growers with $3.3 million loans to be paid to the bank this year, but Simi was hopeful that this year would be a good year and all loans should be paid.