Members of the Parliamentary Agricultural Front (FPA) met this Tuesday (7) with the government's economic team to hear proposals related to rural debt. The meeting ended without an agreement, but the group signaled that it does not intend to give up on the pillars of Bill 5.122/2023. “We understand that those who suffered climate losses really need assistance, speaking specifically of the people in Rio Grande do Sul, which is extremely urgent, and which we need to solve. But the core of the text approved in the Senate was precisely the inclusion of those who suffered income loss due to rural debt problems. So, we will insist on this and we will absolutely not give up on it,” highlighted the president of the FPA, Deputy Pedro Lupion (Republicanos-PR). The meeting took place in the final stretch of the bill's processing. The text originated in the Chamber of Deputies, where it was approved last year. In June, it passed through the Federal Senate and returned to the Chamber after undergoing changes. Now, the deputies need to decide whether or not to approve the changes made by the senators. There is no room for further modifications. According to Lupion, the government presented the idea of a Provisional Measure (MP) as an alternative to the bill. According to him, there is agreement on "a good part" of the suggestions, since they address points of the legislative proposal. However, issues considered crucial still need to be discussed, such as the amount of the operations, the criteria for classifying producers, and the conditions of interest rates and terms.
The proposal approved in the Senate guarantees:
Credit limit of R$ 10 million per beneficiary and up to R$ 50 million for cooperatives; eligibility based on proof of a loss of at least 30% of gross income in at least two or more harvests between 2019 and 2025; interest rates varying between 3.5% and 7.5%, depending on the size of the producer, and terms of up to 13 years, with a minimum grace period of two years. The substitute proposal presented by the government, when the text was still being processed in the Senate's Committee on Economic Affairs (CAE), had important structural differences: tiered credit by size, with limits of up to R$ 400,000 for small producers, up to R$ 2 million for medium-sized producers, and up to R$ 4 million for other producers; mandatory advance payment of 5% to 10% of the outstanding balance to access the credit lines and exclusion of debts with Rural Product Certificates (CPRs); Interest rates range from 6% to 12%, with repayment terms of up to 10 years, including a two-year grace period. Regarding the use of constitutional funds, Lupion stated that the government has not contested the use of these resources. Concerning the creation of a guarantee fund, there are positive indications that this measure will also have the Executive's support. "We discussed the composition of the guarantee fund, which has a cost for the government. We talked about the primary impact of interest rate equalization, but the government agrees with the need for this guarantee fund to lessen the impact. And at no point was there any questioning of the constitutional funds," commented the president of the FPA.
Next steps
Also on Tuesday, technical teams that helped shape the bill will analyze the suggestions presented by the government. The idea is to understand to what extent it is possible to reach a convergence with the text that is in the National Congress. “We will work to see where we can get to with this text, to see the limit and the eligibility criteria, the interest rates, the question of how much this equalization will cost, and also the possibility of serving the largest possible number of producers,” said Lupion. Even so, the president of the caucus emphasized that the basis of the discussion is what is proposed in PL 5.122/23. “We do not accept the end of the Senate's project,” he stated. If there is no agreement, the caucus intends to proceed with the text as approved by the senators. “If there is no agreement, then we have the instruments of pressure,” indicated Lupion.
This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.