BNDES loans for hotels should double and get to US$ 1.3 billion
DCI
The Superintendent of the Area of Social Inclusion of the National Development Bank (BNDES), Ricardo Luiz de Souza Ramos, stated last Friday that the funding line for the hotel industry to prepare for the 2014 FIFA Soccer World Cup should get to R$ 2 billion (US$ 1.3 billion). "Another R$ 1 billion (US$ 625 million) should be offered to fund not only to reform and redesign, but also the construction of new hotels", said Ramos. The BNDES had already released, in 2010, a R$ 1 billion (US$ 625 million) credit line for the sector. According to Ramos, the rates and terms for the loans will be better if the undertaking features "environmental commitment". "Most of the projects presented so far are sustainable", said he.
The news was given at the seminar "Economic Growth: Investments for the FIFA Soccer World Cup and the Olympics", at the headquarters of the Central Bank of Brazil, in downtown Rio de Janeiro. Among the projects that are already receiving funds of the bank are the improvements of the Gloria Hotel and the construction of more units of the Ibis chain in Copacabana. The good perspective of financing and the possibility of extending the credit for improvements and adaptation of hotels were welcomed by entrepreneurs of the sector, who are already thinking about increasing the perspectives of growth for the coming years.
The President of the Portuguese chain Vila Galé, Jorge Rebelo de Almeida, said the action of the BNDES meets the good economic moment of the country. "Noticing the deficit of rooms we found in the cities that will host the FIFA Soccer World Cup and the number of hotels that still fail to fit the standards required, the action of the government was already expected, so we will work with this margin of financing as well", he said. The Executive also said that given the new scenario, new studies of expansion will be made. "This is good news for the hotel sector of Brazil that is going through a golden moment for those already operating in the country and it has the attention of foreign investors seeking business alternatives here", he added. Regarding the news of the group for the coming months, the Executive brings news: "We are already getting prepared for new launchings", he ended.