Detail

Brazil

Oilseeds, oils and meals

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01/06/2017

Production

Agricultural Policy

Presented the agricultural support programme for 2017/18 that grants increased loans for commercial farming (focusing on investments in on-farm stock-holding facilities and improved production technologies) and raises public outlays for crop insurance subsidies.

The government presented its agricultural support package for the 2017/18 season. In the forthcoming season, commercial farming will be granted access to loans worth BRL 188.3 billion (USD 57.9 billion) – a 2.5 percent increase from last year’s level, which, however, compares to a 2016-2017 inflation rate of about 4 percent. In 2017/18, about 80 percent of agricultural funding will be allotted to loans for production and marketing operations and 20 percent to on-farm investment loans. The latter will attract most of the year-on-year increase in financial resources, with special attention given to investments in on-farm stock-holding facilities and improved production technologies. Overall, some 80 percent of the loans will be provided at concessional interest rates of 7.5–8.5 percent, which compares to rates of 8.5–9.5 percent applied last season. The remainder will be offered at market rates – with the Central Bank’s benchmark rate standing at 10.25 percent in May 2017. The borrowing limits for individual farm households will remain unchanged from last year. Separate from the above loan programmes, the Government pledged to raise public outlays for crop insurance subsidies for the second year in succession (reaching BRL 550 million, or USD 169 million), while funds specifically earmarked for family farms will remain unaltered at BRL 30 billion (USD 9.21 billion).