A plan for a populist lending mandate for the Reserve Bank of Australia is before the Parliament. It is proposed by Lower House MP Bob Katter.The Katter Bill would establish an "Australian Reconstruction and Development Board" (ARDB) as a third board within the Reserve Bank of Australia.This board would have "the capacity to reconstruct debilitating financial arrangements, and to provide suitably tailored funds and capital arrangements", according to the explanatory memorandum prepared by Katter.According to Katter: "The Reserve Bank of Australia already has the necessary regulatory framework, powers and relevant duties legislatively assigned to be able to constitute The Australian Reconstruction and Development Board."He said that "rural Australia is struggling under an insurmountable debt burden, characterised by low farm income and [the] lending practices of financial institutions in deregulated financial markets."The RBA estimates that bank lending to agribusiness was A$59 billion at December 2012, equal to nine per cent of all business lending. This is a little lower as a percentage of all business lending compared with 10 years ago.The Rural Finance Roundtable working group, set up by the federal government, has backed a plan for a "reconstruction bank [that] could forgive farmers at least 40 per cent of their loans, and refinance the remaining debt at a lower rate."Katter asserted that "with escalating debts, many farmers and producers are facing foreclosures, and, with forced sales widening loan-to-value ratios, there is a risk of 'fire sales' that could precipitate a raging financial bushfire that may not be contained to rural and regional Australia."The Australian Reconstruction and Development Board's responsibilities would "include the ability to facilitate, and, when necessary, manage rural adjustment and financial reconstruction activities. The proposed board would also be "able to tailor funding and financial arrangements to meet identified needs of nationally important industries operating in particularly uncertain or risky environments."It could also "identify and resolve serious financial imbalances, sectoral stresses and development shortfalls."Katter projected that there would be "no financial impact" from the proposal.