Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) will deepen this year the concentration of its resources in financing major infrastructure projects that the government wants to rush in order to sustain the rate of investments in the economy amid the global instability.
In an interview to Grupo Estado, the Director of Infrastructure and Basic Inputs of BNDES, Roberto Zurli, said the bank is prepared to place US$ 12.95 billion in energy, logistics and transport in 2012, almost 28% more than what was borrowed in 2011. Last year, the BNDES credit for large infrastructure projects totaled just over US$ 10.13 billion, which represented, in turn, a 15% increase compared to 2010.
The performance made the industry take the lead in the bank’s total disbursement in 2011, which has not been yet disclosed, about US$ 78.82 billion. Despite the decrease of 17% of BNDES total credit in relation to the US$ 94.59 billion in 2010, the bank’s operation in infrastructure continues to grow. The infrastructure is a growing demand and is a key driver in the growth of the country. There is a long-term steady demand, the director of BNDES said.
Besides having the BNDES financing, the government can stimulate the investments with the concession auction calendar. According to Zurli, the electric power industry will continue leading BNDES disbursements for infrastructure this year. In 2011, they consumed 76% of the releases to the area with the beginning of major funding disbursement, such as Jirau and Santo Antônio dams, in the state of Rondônia, and Angra 3 nuclear power plant, in the state of Rio de Janeiro.
The bank also provided a bridge loan for the construction of Belo Monte dam, in the state of Pará. The director hopes that the funding is approved by March. Until then, says Zurli, a new intermediate operation may be approved by BNDES.
There is this possibility of an additional bridge in order to not hinder the pace of the works, which are at a good pace. Time is money for these projects, explained the executive, pointing out that the concession model has financial benefits that encourage the anticipation of the commencement of operation. According to Zurli, BNDES has evaluated well the overcoming of issues in the environmental licensing and the ownership restructuring of the consortium that won the auction for Belo Monte with the entry of larger companies and consumers of energy, such as Vale.
Now, he says, it is just to overcome bureaucratic trimmings for the funding approval, which will be the largest ever granted by the bank. Technically speaking, there is no doubt about the project itself, the director said. BNDES shall finance up to 80% of the project, whose budget is more than US$ 11 billion. So far, the largest operation already approved by BNDES was Jirau credit, of R$ 4.05 billion. Disbursements are made in the course of the work.
Transport
Despite the focus on energy, BNDES expects to increase this year the credit in other areas, such as ports, railroads and highways. Zurli said the bank should significantly support the investments to be made in the privatized airports.
BNDES is informally talking with the groups that are organized to dispute the concessions of Guarulhos, Brasília and Viracopos in the February auction. The bank is also in the sights of the High Speed Rail (HSR) connecting Campinas, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, in which once again it appears as the main financier, if the government can achieve the auction this year.
According to Zurli, the bank has the resources to continue as the main long-term financier of the infrastructure area, and the overcoming of bottlenecks can stimulate private investment in sectors such as industrial. He says that the role of infrastructure area in the bank’s total disbursement is not guaranteed this year, depending on how the demand will be in the industrial area with the prospect of rising investments in sectors such as oil and gas.
Totaling the credit for large projects and the smaller indirect operations, such as machinery, equipment and vehicle acquisition, infrastructure accounted for 41% of all BNDES releases until October, while the industry accounted for 31%.
Trade, services and agricultural and livestock activities were the other 28%. In 2010, under the impact of the BNDES contribution in the capitalization of Petrobras, the industry got 47% of the bank resources. BNDES also finances investments in urban infrastructure, such as sanitation and mobility, which are in the Social Inclusion area. Also in this area are the financing for stadiums and hotels for the 2014 World Cup, which already have more than R$ 1.68 billion in contract.
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