The government announced on Wednesday that it would create a fund to guarantee loans taken out by farmers as part of an installation or investment in the ecological transition.
The objective is to facilitate access to credit and reduce the cost for farmers who will reinforce our food sovereignty by choosing to set up or will take risks by innovating, in order to lead the ecological and climatic transitions. , indicates the Minister of Agriculture in a press release.
This fund is created via a government amendment to the 2024 draft budget tabled during the weekend and integrated into the final text submitted to 49.3, according to the office of Minister Marc Fesneau.
The State will guarantee up to two billion euros in loans, of which at least 400 million will be directed to breeders. Mr. Fesneau had put forward the principle during the breeding summit, a professional exhibition which was held at the beginning of October in Auvergne.
The administration will intervene in the event of default in the repayment of the bills.
The state will cover part of the defaults linked to a portfolio of loans distributed by approved banks, specifies the minister’s office.
Almost a year ago, the Minister of Agriculture launched consultations within the framework of the development of a pact and a draft law on the orientation and future of agriculture, the calendar has been postponed several times.
These consultations highlighted the difficulties linked to access to capital for the installation of new farmers and for investment in transitions, underlines the minister.
The guarantee fund will be among the measures of the pact which will be unveiled soon.
A financial instrument of this type, the National Initiative for French Agriculture, was launched in 2019.
With the new guarantee fund, the objective is to continue and amplify the effects of this financial engineering system, it is explained in the presentation of the amendment.