In the midst of the reserve drain, the Central Bank decided this Thursday to extend the deadline of a measure which it “penalizes” agricultural producers who harvest and do not liquidate their crop with a more onerous credit. This is a controversial decision made in September of last year, as part of the first edition of the soybean dollar program.
The original rule, A7600, established “a minimum interest rate 120% above the LELIQ rate for soybean producers” who liquidate no more than 95% of their crop. The measure then applied “to all lines of financing in pesos, whatever the form of instrumentation, and is complementary to the program launched by the government for producers to settle soybean exports in foreign currency at 200 pesos per dollar”.
That law, much resented in the sector which has seen a sharp increase in the cost of its credit in the context of the worst drought in the last 14 years, expired this Wednesday. This Thursday, the BCRA board of directors decided to extend it until December 31 of this year. It could be an attempt to “force” producers to liquidate, or it could be a signal that the third round of a “soy dollar” program.highly anticipated on the market, is in the pipeline by the Government.
With communication A7720, the organization chaired by Miguel Pesce also extended the validity of all lines of productive investment, at subsidized rates, which had an expiry date set for the end of this month. The rule establishes that all entities “must maintain a financial balance within this line that is equivalent, at least, to 7.5% of their deposits in non-financial private sector pesos, calculated on the basis of the monthly average of daily balances in March 2023”.
“Launched by the BCRA in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the credit line for productive investments has become the main channel through which credits are channeled to MiPyMEs in our country”, justified the decision in a statement. “To date, loans granted through this line have accumulated disbursements of approximately $4.447 billion, reaching more than 379,000 businesses,” detailed.
Source: Clarin
