SP will have no interest rate financing for tractor sale
Folha de S. Paulo - 04/30/2008
The Governor of the State of São Paulo, José Serra (PSDB), announced in Ribeirão Preto a no-interest-rate financing line that will allow the purchase of 6,000 thousand tractors by rural producers in the State. The announcement was made during Serra's visit to the Agrishow (International Fair of Agricultural technology in Action). Through reverse auction, there will be the purchase of 2,000 55-hp, 2,000 75-hp, and another 2,000 90-hp tractors, in a deal that can reach R$ 65 million (US$ 37.1 million). According to Serra, the state government will subsidize the interest rates, giving the amount to Nossa Caixa, the bank which will finance the operation. The no-interest-rate line will be valid for producers with annual gross income of up to R$ 400 thousand (US$ 228.6 thousand). « We could have raised the ceiling price to reach 10 thousand tractors, but since it is an electoral year we couldn't because we can not change the Feap (Fund of Expansion of São Paulo State Agribusiness - Fundo de Expansão do Agronegócio Paulista). The government will give Caixa the money for no-interest-rates. "We are not breaking Caixa, we are giving money in a responsible way", affirmed the Governor. The funds should be available in 30 days. The public bid should be opened in 15 days, said Secretary of Agriculture, João Sampaio. « We expect to have a reduction of nearly 20% in the price of the tractors », affirmed Sampaio. If the forecast is confirmed, a 55-hp tractor should cost about R$ 40 thousand (US$ 22.9 thousand) and the 75-hp one from R$ 50 thousand (US$ 28.6 thousand) to R$ 60 thousand (US$ 34.3 thousand). Besides the 6,000 tractors, Serra announced a 3%-interest-rate line for the purchase of notebooks for the state's small- and average-sized rural producers.