Kredyty preferencyjne jako forma finansowania działalności rolniczej w Polsce

Agricultural activity requires involvement on the part of the government and also financial support from public institutions because it is burdened with a high level of risk and is subject to the influences of many unfavourable phenomena (e.g. natural, social or economic phenomena). The support of those activities which contribute to the development of agriculture and rural areas in Poland from the national funds is offered by the Agency for Restructuring and Modernization of Agriculture (ARMA). The national programmes of the financial support of agriculture consist among others in subsidies offered by the Agency to the interest on bank. Preferential loans are the most frequently used by farmers a form of financing because their cost of servicing due to payment of ARMA is lower than operating commercial loans. This article aims to assess a preferential credits as a form of financing agricultural activities. Assessment was based on the volume of preferential agricultural credits given by banks with the subsidy of the Agency for Restructuring and Modernization of Agriculture to the interest. In addition, the subject of analysis is the share of preferential loans in loans to agriculture and the structure of preferential loans by type of credit line. In the article, statistical data from the reports of the Agency for Restructuring and Modernization of Agriculture was used, and the time scope of the analysis included the years of 2003–2010.