The Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MPLS), Blairo Maggi, received on Wednesday (18) proposals prepared by the National Agricultural Confederation (CNA) System for the Agricultural and Livestock Plan 2018/2019. According to the minister, “CNA contributes a lot every year to the formation of the Safra Plan, listening to farmers in various regions of Brazil and making a synthesis of the demands.” The work, according to Maggi, will be used in discussions within the government as suggested interest rates and allocation of resources with priority in certain programs.
The president of the entity, João Martins da Silva Junior, recalled during the hearing that agribusiness has contributed to the reduction of inflation and, consequently, the Selic rate (basic interest rate of the economy) that is at 6.75% per year – the lowest level since the beginning of the Central Bank’s historical series, begun in 1986.
Blairo Maggi stressed that “the contribution is very welcome, it facilitates the life of the MPLS technicians and makes possible the feeling of the producer”. The minister explained that it is necessary to evaluate the demand and the conditions that the country has to provide credits, both as regards interest on financing and the amounts to be used to finance the new crop.
The negotiation deadline in the government to define all the details of the Agricultural Plan goes until June 1, he informed. The minister added that the private sector has increasingly been interested in participating in the investment in agricultural activity and that this competition is very healthy for the sector.
Check out the main proposals of the CNA for the new Plan Safra delivered to the Minister of Agriculture, Blairo Maggi:
:: Increase in the volume of funds from R $ 188.4 billion to R $ 197.9 billion (increase of 5.08%);
:: Increase in the volume of resources for investments of R $ 9.5 billion (an increase of 25% in relation to the 2017/2018 harvest);
:: Prioritization of investment programs for construction of warehouses (PCA), adaptation of properties to environmental legislation (ABC) and investments required to incorporate technological innovations in rural properties (Inovagro), with interest rates of 4% per year;
:: Maintenance of the current levels of demandability for demand deposits (34%) and rural savings (60%), directed to rural credit;
:: Reduction of the interest rate of funding from 8.5% per year to 5.5% per year;
:: Support to the maintenance of income tax exemption for investors in Agribusiness Letters of Credit (LCA) and Agribusiness Receivables Certificate (CRA) and issuance of foreign currency notes;
:: Adoption of the revolving and automatic credit, from the limit defined in a “parent” agreement, in which the other cost credit agreements must be linked, in order to reduce transaction costs;
:: Exclusion of charges levied for the elaboration of technical project and technical assistance, as a percentage of the value of the project. In the current interest rate scenario, these rates have greatly affected the contracting of rural credit;
:: Viability of the early settlement of the renegotiations carried out through Pesa;
:: Definition of structuring policies for the management of agricultural risks, through the subsidy to the rural insurance premium and the sale options of agricultural products, revision of the Agricultural Zoning of Climate Risk and support to the commercialization.