The Reserve Bank reported that it will have RD$10,000 million pesos to finance the Rice Pledge Program 2023-2024, maintaining the same rate of 6% last year.
The general administrator of the banking institution, Samuel Pereyra, said that between 2012 and 2022 Banreservas allocated RD$66,000 million pesos for this program, of which disbursements for RD$54,000 million have been processed, which represents a significant participation of 63.37%. in the financing of rice production of the Dominican financial system as a whole.
“Last year we disbursed 8 billion pesos in the program and today we want to increase the impact of our aid, which is why we have increased the disbursement to 10 billion pesos,” Pereyra said. He added that the repayment of the credits granted is 100% by the growers and millers, who plant and process a wide variety of rice, enough to satisfy local consumption.
“This program is a sign of our commitment to rice producers and millers in the 21 provinces where it is grown in the Dominican Republic,” Pereyra stressed during the launch of the program, held at Cetro Mountain Club, formerly Valle Verde, in La Vega. . The general administrator of Banreservas pondered that rice is one of the agricultural products that more people and companies involve in its value chain.
“Every year,” he said, “thousands of Dominicans, including producers and farmers, along with more than 150 factories, actively participate in the planting, processing, storage, and marketing of rice, benefiting our economy.”
He added that rice production is a strategic sector for national development, since it contributes to the increase in exports, the creation of jobs in rural areas, the reduction of poverty and inequality, and the expansion of the middle class in the country.
“The commitment of the government of our President Luis Abinader with this sector has been reflected in specific public policies, and the Rice Pledge Program is one of the most important,” said Pereyra.
Guarantees price stability The administrator of Banco AgrÃcola, Fernando Durán, also spoke at the activity; the president of the National Federation of Rice Producers (FENARROZ), Marcelo Reyes Jorge; and that of the Dominican Association of Rice Factories (ADOFA), Fausto Armando Pimentel, who highlighted the importance of the Pledge Program to guarantee the cultivation, the balance of prices and the availability of the cereal in the diet of Dominicans.
The BagrÃcola administrator pondered the importance that President Luis Abinader gives to national agricultural production, for which the Banco AgrÃcola and the Ministry of Agriculture have allocated a large amount of resources, with easy access for producers.
He argued that the Rice Pledge Program has been decisive for the growth and development of the national rice sector, contributing to the stability of consumer prices and the profitability of producers. The launch of the Pledge Program was also attended by the governor of La Vega, Luisa Jiménez; the municipal mayor, Kelvin Cruz, the director of the Dominican Agrarian Institute, Francisco GarcÃa, and business executives from Banreservas and members of the Board of Directors of the financial institution.