The economic team is studying the creation of a Guarantee Fund for agribusiness in light of the increased losses caused by extreme weather events and the escalating rural debt, according to a note from "Agência Brasil". The proposal was confirmed this Wednesday, the 20th, by the Minister of Finance, Dario Durigan, after a meeting with senators, deputies, and representatives of agricultural movements to discuss the debt renegotiation project for the sector. "We are already signaling that we will work on this. The idea is that in the coming days we will have a final text," Durigan stated at a press conference at the Ministry of Finance. According to him, the model under discussion should involve the participation of the federal government, banks, and also rural producers, on a smaller scale.
New mechanism
The fund is part of a broader package of measures aimed at financing and renegotiating agribusiness debts. According to Durigan, the fund would operate similarly to the Credit Guarantee Fund (FGC), which partially covers losses for investors who are victims of financial institution failures. This fund, the minister informed, would have resources from the government, financial institutions, and the farmers themselves. The presence of public resources would be a distinguishing feature compared to the FGC, which only receives contributions from financial institutions.
Longer grace period and longer term.
The main point of the project is the creation of a special line of credit to renegotiate rural liabilities using resources from the Pre-Salt Social Fund and other funds supervised by the Treasury. The text provides for differentiated conditions for producers, with a term of up to ten years for debt repayment and a two-year grace period before payments begin. According to Durigan, there was an agreement with the senators on these points. “The debate now is about the best eligibility criteria. One of the Treasury's criteria is that a real loss on the part of the farmer be identified,” said the minister. Originally, the government intended to grant a one-year grace period before debt payments began and allow up to six years for repayment of installments after renegotiation. According to Durigan, the Treasury agreed to concede on these two points after Wednesday's meeting.
Criteria and access
The economic team wants to limit access to debt renegotiation programs to producers effectively affected by climate losses or economic crises. The intention is to prevent the benefit from being used indiscriminately. The rapporteur of the bill in the Senate, Renan Calheiros (MDB-AL), defended the need to build a structural solution for the indebtedness of the rural sector. According to him, the problems faced by producers are no longer isolated incidents. “Rural indebtedness today is a structural issue in the Brazilian agricultural economy. We need to preserve production, supply, and jobs in the sector,” the senator stated after the meeting.
Climate pressure
The proposal's advancement comes amid increasing losses caused by prolonged droughts, floods, and severe climate fluctuations that have affected different producing regions in recent years. In Senate debates, parliamentarians linked to the rural caucus argued that successive crop failures have exacerbated the difficulties in repaying previously contracted rural credit operations. The new guarantee fund is seen as an attempt to create a permanent financial protection mechanism for the sector in the face of intensified climate risks.
Billion-dollar impact
Despite political support from the rural caucus, the proposal faces resistance within the economic team due to its potential fiscal impact. Estimates discussed in Congress indicate that the volume of rural debt involved could reach approximately R$ 180 billion. The initially projected resources include up to R$ 30 billion from the Pre-Salt Social Fund, in addition to other public funding sources. The vote on the bill in the Senate's Economic Affairs Committee (CAE) was postponed after a request from the Ministry of Finance for more time to negotiate points considered sensitive in the text. After Wednesday's meeting, Calheiros and Senator Tereza Cristina (PP-MS), who also participated in the renegotiations, said that the fiscal impact calculations will be redone.
This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.