From the Newsroom
São Paulo – The Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) made available funds of around US$ 3 billion in the first quarter of 2004, a 72% increase in comparison to the same period last year, according to information provided yesterday (12) by a spokesperson for the organization. In March, the loans totalled around US$ 1.1 billion, against around US$ 570 million in the same period in 2003 (all values calculated according to the exchange rate of April 13, 2004).
According to information by the bank, a large part of these funds (US$ 940 million) was turned to projects by small and medium companies, 32% of all loans in the first three months.
Still according to a spokesperson for the organization, another factor contributing to the increase in fund liberation was agricultural financing, which totalled around US$ 540 million in the first quarter, a 195% increase with regard to the same period last year.
Industry, however, had the largest share, around US$ 1.5 billion, a 78% growth in comparison to the first quarter of 2003. Information provided by the bank shows that the transport product sector (aircraft, ships, railway equipment, and automobiles) was the one that received the largest volume of funds, around US$ 680 million, 94% more than in the same period last year. Agribusiness, in turn, received around US$ 260 million.
The bank also made around US$ 430 million available for financing of equipment and machinery purchases in their Finame program. This value is 20% greater than the total made available in the first quarter of 2003. Funds made available for the Agricultural Program totalled $ 370 million, against the almost US$ 82 million made available in the same period last year.
A spokesperson for the bank stated that the Finame and the Agricultural Program are financing mechanisms turned to increasing and modernizing industrial, commercial, and agricultural enterprises.
Up to the end of the year, the BNDES forecasts is to make around US$ 16.4 billion available for investment in the infrastructure area. Last year the loans totalled US$ 11.4 billion.
Still in the first quarter, "approvals" by the bank, i.e., projects approved by the bank but which have not yet received their funds, totalled around US$ 2.4 billion, 73% greater than in the same period in 2003. In March, the value of approvals totalled US$ 1.2 billion, against US$ 503 million in the same month last year.
Those "in profile", i.e., with projects that have fulfilled the demands for fund liberation, but with financing not yet approved, totalled around US$ 5 billion, against around US$ 1.4 billion ed in the first quarter of 2003. In March alone, the total of profiled projects reached around US$ 3.6 billion, against US$ 482 million in March last year.
"Information letters," in turn, totalled some US$ 5.5 billion in the first three months of 2004, a 151% increase with regard to the same period in 2003. In March, the value of these letters was around US$ 3.3 billion, against $ 763 million in March last year.
As information letters are the first step businessmen have to take so as to obtain financing from the BNDES, the bank considers this increase in letters a sign of interest in productive investment.
