BMO Bank of Montreal, a Canada-based bank has launched the BMO Agri Invest Savings Account, allowing agricultural customers to benifit from savings by generating matching government funds for every allowable contribution they make to the account.

Department of Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) developed the AgriInvest account to help agricultural producers improve productivity or business investment and protect their margin from small income declines.

David Rinneard, national manager of agriculture at BMO Bank of Montreal, said: “An AgriInvest account with BMO is, hands down, one of the simplest tools Canadian farmers can employ to prepare for the ups and downs that this industry experiences.

“A BMO AgriInvest account maximizes your savings by generating matching government funds and ensures your savings are available to you when you need them because you can now access your AgriInvest account conveniently through our online banking, ABMs, telephone banking and in-branch services.”

Sal Guatieri, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, said: “We anticipate interest rates will begin to rise by the middle of next year, with the 10-year Government of Canada yield climbing from 3%, currently, to 3.5% by July 2011, to 3.85% by the end of 2011 and to 4.6% by the end of 2012.”