Brasília, June 16, 2004 (Agência Brasil) - The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) will lend the Brazilian government US$ 1 billion to expand the Family Grant Program and strengthen projects that protect and help children and youngsters in situations of risk. The agreement was arranged on Monday (14) by the Minister of Social Development and Hunger Alleviation, Patrus Ananias, and the President of the IDB, Enrique Iglesias.

The partnership between the IDB and the Brazilian government will enable President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to keep his promise to enlarge the Family Grant Program, which transfers income to poor families in which per capita monthly income does not exceed US$ 31.91 (R$ 100).

The program currently provides benefits to four million families, but the goal is to reach 6.5 million by the end of this year and 11 million by the end of 2006, thus attaining the entire universe of 44 million people who, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), live below the poverty line.

Since 1961 the IDB has made 303 loans to Brazil for a total of US$ 26.1 billion, according to information furnished by the institution. Last year the Bank approved six loans, for a total of US$ 339.3 million, to the Brazilian government. The majority for projects in the area of infrastructure.

Besides the Family Grant Program, the new loan will finance projects to protect and assist children and young people in situations of risk, such as the Program for the Erradication of Child Labor (PETI), the Sentinel Program, which combats sexual abuse and exploitation of children and adolescents, and the Integral Care Program for Families (PAIF).

According to Minister Ananias, the date when the resources will be available has still not been determined, but they will probably enter the public coffers by the end of year and may be increased in 2005.

Reporter: Irene Lôbo
Translator: David Silberstein