Finance Ministry Seeks Senate Pact on Farm Debt Relief Without Social Fund Cash

Overview

• Finance Minister Dario Durigan, who met senators in Brasília on Wednesday with Rio Grande do Sul governor Eduardo Leite, opened talks on how to ease rural debts after repeated droughts and floods.
• The ministry is weighing a new credit line for farmers hurt by climate losses and a weaker global market, with a proposal to be shaped with Senate leaders in the coming days or weeks.
• The economic team opposes using up to R$30 billion from the Social Fund, a pre-salt oil account authorized by a Chamber-approved bill, citing fiscal costs and credit-market risks.
• As an alternative, officials are studying a plan to include rural borrowers in a nationwide debt-renegotiation program for households and small and mid-sized firms, with a possible provisional decree if senators agree.
• An earlier effort in 2025 moved R$6.9 billion in public funds via BNDES and enabled R$39 billion in private restructurings before expiring in February, and producers said red tape and limited reach left many without relief.