Brasília – The federal government has defined how to distribute the 1.8 billion Brazilian reals (US$ 900 million) offered by the General Budget of the Union to the Coffee Economy Defence Fund (Funcafé). The funds should serve for financing production and trade of coffee in 2009.
The rules for the use of the funds are in Interministerial Directive 453, signed by the ministers of Agriculture, Reinhold Stephanes, and Finance, Guido Mantega, and published on Thursday (17) in the Official Gazette.
The financing of agriculture should reach 200 million reals (US$ 100 million). For the crop, loans should total 450 million reals (US$ 225 million), whereas for storage, the total should be 460 million reals (US$ 230 million). Financing for the purchase of coffee should receive 400 million reals (US$ 200 million). Up to 100 million reals (US$ 50 million) should be turned to a special line of credit for purchases of Rural Credit Papers (CDRs) and 90 million Brazilian reals (US$ 45 million) should be turned to the recovery of coffee crops affected by hailstorms.
Cost and crop operations forecasted for refunding of the rural debt should receive 100 million reals (US$ 50 million). Financial agents have to present to the Funcafé managers, in up to 30 days, the volume of defaults covered by the funds. Also scheduled is the possibility of re-management of funds, in case there is not sufficient demand to reach the limit in some financing modalities.
*Translated by Mark Ament
