Alana Gandra
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Rio - The National Economic and Social Development Bank (BNDES) announced yesterday (13) its approval of the first direct transaction involving computer purchases as part of the Connected Citizen program: a total of US$ 13.8 million for the Magazine Luiza S.A. department store chain to buy at least 22 thousand microcomputers for resale on easy terms.

The government's digital exclusion map shows that 55% of the Brazilian population has never used a computer and that computers are present in only 16.6% of Brazilian households.

The BNDES had already approved an earlier, US$ 2.1 million loan to the Pão de Açucar ("Sugarloaf"), Americanas.com, and TV Sky-Shoptime groups, which also plan to facilitate computer purchases.

According to the BNDES press office, 7 million computers are expected to be sold in the next three years. 5 million of them will be for low-income families, while the rest will go to micro, small, and medium-size firms. The computers will be sold at a cash price not exceeding US$ 648.

The Connected Citizen program, created by the federal government in 2005, is designed to foster digital inclusion by giving the low-income population greater access to information technology and the internet at a lower cost.

Translation: David Silberstein