Wellington, Oct 28 NZPA - PGG Wrightson Finance is intending to apply for the Government's extended deposit guarantee scheme in 2010.

The company, which is the largest non-bank financier to the agriculture sector, said it initially viewed the costs of the scheme extension as prohibitive.

"What importantly emerged in our discussions with officials is the ability to offer customers both guaranteed and non-guaranteed deposit products concurrently, with the obvious interest rate differential across the two options, which would essentially cover the cost of the scheme," director of financial services Mark Darrow said.

PGG Wrightson Finance expects to meet the eligibility criteria by March 2010 once it has finalised its credit rating by February.