Banks in Paraná Continue to Stall Rural Debt Renegotiations
Brazil’s Provisional Measure 1,376/2026 was published on July 15, but applications to restructure rural loans remain pending or have been rejected by financial institutions, according to the System Faep. The organisation said banks are applying different interpretations and procedures to the same rules.
Data compiled by System Faep’s Technical and Economic Department from Central Bank figures showed that Brazil had R$207.4 billion in troubled rural-loan balances in July. Paraná accounted for R$13.9 billion of that amount.
Ágide Eduardo Meneguette, president of System Faep, said rural borrowers were facing rising indebtedness, tighter access to credit for the summer crop and frequent extreme-weather events. “The situation in the countryside is becoming increasingly complicated,” he said. Meneguette added that a measure intended to provide relief had instead become a problem for producers.
He said the difficulty concerned the implementation of the measure rather than its existence. “The debt-renegotiation MP needs to leave the paper and start working effectively. Our rural producers no longer have time to wait,” Meneguette said. He also described the situation as reflecting federal-government neglect of the agricultural sector.
The Finance Ministry sought to address part of the process in August by issuing Ordinance 2,423 on August 13. It authorised the payment of interest-rate equalisation for rural-credit operations used to restructure debt. System Faep said the measure was technically necessary for the renegotiations, but that many applications still had not been approved.
Last week, more than 40 agribusiness representative bodies, including System Faep, sent a letter to Congress. They called for simpler and standardised proof of producers’ losses, more flexible down-payment requirements for borrowers unable to provide the money, and national, objective criteria for classifying eligible operations. The groups also asked that a restructuring deal should not prevent producers from obtaining new financing needed to continue operating.
Under the provisional measure, the rules remain valid until November 12. With that date approaching, producers and representative organisations are seeking clearer procedures and the implementation of the renegotiations before the statutory period ends.
