Brazil's Finance Minister Durigan outlines rural debt relief and reports IMF growth upgrade

Finance Minister Dario Durigan announced a meeting on 7 July between the parliamentary Front for Agribusiness and the Ministry of Finance to negotiate a rural credit restructuring plan. The proposal would allow refinancing of credit‑rural loans and agricultural bills contracted up to 31 December 2025, with terms up to ten years, three years of grace, and interest rates ranging from 3.5% for family farms to 7.5% for larger producers. Eligibility criteria focus on producers affected by climate events, documented income loss, or other hardships, and set caps of R$ 10 million per farmer and R$ 50 million per cooperative.

In a separate announcement, the International Monetary Fund is set to raise its 2026 growth forecast for Brazil, according to Durigan. He highlighted record agricultural harvests and a continued decline in deforestation as key drivers, and noted that Brazil has attracted US$ 5.5 billion in sovereign green financing over the past three years. The BNDES has issued over R$ 16 billion in development credit letters, and a forthcoming carbon‑credit auction could add another R$ 6 billion. Durigan also outlined a strategy to develop the country’s critical mineral sector, aiming for domestic processing rather than raw‑material export.