São Paulo, 7/22/2004 (Agência Brasil) - The president of the Brazilian Development Bank (Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social) (BNDES), Carlos Lessa, reports that the institution will approve a new line of credit for corporate working capital by next week. The amount involved should be over US$826 million (R$2.5 billion).

The funding will be available to both small and big companies. Lessa says the principal requirement is that the money is used to create jobs. "If jobs are created, we are willing to make an attractive offer consisting of long terms and comfortable interest rates," explained Lessa.

The president of the São Paulo Federation of Industries (Fiesp), Horácio Lafer Piva, declared that any injection of resources is welcome because Brazil has a low volume of credit. He pointed out that whereas in developed nations the credit supply (and corresponding demand) runs to as much as 120% of GDP, in Brazil it is around 30%.

Agência Brasil
Reporter: Marli Moreira
Translator: Allen Bennett
07/22/2004