Ministry of Finance promises proposal for rice debt

In a meeting held this Tuesday, February 26, in Brasília (DF), representatives of the rice sector discussed with the Minister of Agriculture, Tereza Cristina, and other representatives of the Ministries of Agriculture and Finance, issues related to the problems faced by the chain rice farming in the country. One of the main obstacles for producers, debt, which currently exceeds R$2,5 billion, was one of the topics discussed.

The Federation of Rice Growers Associations of Rio Grande do Sul (Federarroz) was present with president Henrique Dornelles and vice-president Alexandre Velho. According to Dornelles, there was a deepening of the debate on the issue of the sector's debt in which the Ministry of Finance was left to deliver a proposal to solve the problem. "The Treasury is already working on this to see a proposal and whether the sector approves it", he highlighted.

Regarding the fiscal war between the country's States, the president of Federarroz highlighted that Federation Units such as São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo and Goiás, which obtain tax incentives for imported rice, end up harming national production. The entity places this as a priority on the agenda, as the rice harvest is already underway. "The producer will have product and we need to sell this production", he noted.

Regarding production costs, Dornelles stated that on March 20th the topic will be discussed further with the Ministries of Finance and Agriculture. The leader also reinforced the presence of the Brazilian Association of Supermarkets (Abras), which showed that it wants to collaborate with the moment and explained that rice, along with other products, was hit by the serious recession, but they are already once again identifying an increase in consumption. . In addition to Federarroz, Fetag/RS and Farsul were also present at the meeting.