LIVESTOCK III (SUPPL

closed

In addition to the improvement in sector conditions, the increase in rancher demand for development credit reflects widespread enthusiasm for the new pasture improvement and the favorable reaction to several new features incorporated in the third project. The latter include (1) the adjustment of service payments in accordance with price indexes, which appears to have been fully accepted by ranchers, and which made it possible to extend the maturities of sub-loans to a minimum of 7 years, compared with a maximum of 3 years available under the previous project; (2) the limitation of this indexing to the amount of the increase in the cost of living index, thereby avoiding excessive adjustments in periods of particularly sharp increases in livestock prices and (3) the opening of lending under the livestock program, which had previously not been available to ranchers having more than 2,500 hectares to all ranchers regardless of the size of their holdings.