Brasília – From early July to September 15th, the Bank of Brazil (BB) has disbursed 6.7 billion Brazilian reals (US$ 3.7 billion) for the funding of the 2008/2009 crop. Of these funds, 5.5 billion (US$ 3 billion) were turned to business agriculture, which represents expansion of 43.2% over the same period in the previous crop, and US$ 1.2 billion went to family agriculture, growth of 6.1%.
This information was disclosed yesterday (25) by a BB spokesperson, in a press statement, and shows that the disbursements up to now have grown 34% when compared to loans made for the 2007/2008 crop. The largest volume, 4.1 billion reals (US$ 2.2 billion), was for cost operations, against 2.4 billion reals (US$ 1.3 billion) in the same period in 2007.
This increase was necessary, mainly, due to the high prices of fertilizers, up on average 120% over the last 12 months, according to figures supplied by the National Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock (CNA).
The greatest demand for agricultural credit generally takes place between September to October, and the BB expectation is for another 11.4 billion reals (US$ 6.2 billion) to be made available by the end of the year, 15% more than in the period from July to December last year. In the month of October alone, the funds turned to the sector should exceed 2.7 billion reals (US$ 1.5 billion).
Apart from fund for covering costs and investment in agriculture, the BB also promises to keep its eye on the performance of the deposit balances in savings accounts to, if necessary, make available greater volumes of funds for agricultural credit.
*Translated by Mark Ament
