Rural areas continued to suffer demographic, economic and social decline. This marked the turn to an active policy to promote agricultural growth. Incentives were provided through a substantial expansion of preferential credit, machinery leasing, fertiliser and fuel subsidies, and considerable tax concessions. Rural development and social issues have become more prominent on the policy agenda. In the late 2000s, instability of global economy increased government’s concerns about the resilience of the agro-food sector and the ability of private business to respond to the stated agricultural development goals. State-supported large-scale investment projects were initiated and support was re-focussed from the crop to the livestock sector.