Brazil will open a 1 billion real ($470 mln) credit line to help finance the sale of Brazilian crops, the Minister of Agriculture Reinhold Stephanes said on Wednesday.

 

The move is the latest in a series of government measures aimed at easing a global credit crunch which risks hurting Latin America's largest economy.

 

Stephanes also said the government will guarantee minimum prices for agricultural products during the current harvest.

 

Farmers like, other exporters, have experienced difficulties as a global financial crisis squeezed global market liquidity and hurt major economies.

 

Brazil is one of the world's largest agriculture exporters and supplies much the world's sugar, orange juice, meats, soybeans and ethanol.