Rural producers and family farmers in the Northeast affected by the floods at the beginning of the year gained more time to have access to emergency lines of credit in force since March. In an extraordinary meeting, the National Monetary Council (CMN) approved the extension of the contracting period from June 30 to November 30.
The measures will benefit residents of the east coast of the Northeast Region, hit by heavy rains since the end of May. Recurring storms have mainly affected eastern Pernambuco and Alagoas. Only in the last week of May and the first week of June, floods and landslides caused 129 deaths in Pernambuco.
Originally, the Northeast Constitutional Fund credit lines would only benefit producers affected by the rains between November 1st of last year and February 28th of this year. Now, producers affected by the floods between November 1, 2021 and July 31 of this year will have access to emergency lines.
The same dates apply to the renegotiation of agricultural credit debts authorized by the CMN in March. To be entitled to emergency lines of credit and special debt renegotiation, rural producers and family farmers will need to produce in municipalities in the area of operation of the Northeast Development Superintendence (Sudene) that have declared an emergency situation or state of public calamity.
The CMN also extended the term for contracting the lines of the National Program for Oriented Productive Microcredit, aimed at small business owners affected by the floods at the beginning of the year. The line, which was in force for rains recorded between November 2021 and February 2022, started to cover flood victims between November 2021 and July this year.
The emergency lines of credit were instituted in March to help rural producers and small business owners in the south of Bahia, hit by heavy floods at the end of last year and at the beginning of this year.
