Banco do Brasil May Pay 3 Billion Reais in Crop Insurance

Banco do Brasil SA may have to pay out 3 billion reais ($1.7 billion) in crop insurance to drought-stricken farmers in the south of the country, National Integration Minister Fernando Bezerra said.

The drought in the states of Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul and Parana has hit producers of rice, soy and corn, Bezerra said to reporters in Brasilia. The government will announce measures to help farmers in the south on Jan. 13, Bezerra said.