08/28/2008 15h34
Public investments grow 49% a year
Valor Econômico - 08/28/2008
In today's meeting of the Economic and Social Development Council (CDES), to which the attendance of foreign investors is expected, the government intends to emphasize the volume of public and private investments made this year. It will also give prominence to the announcements of investments for the next years. On the public side, the Minister of Finance, Guido Mantega, calls attention to the growth of 49% in the federal government's investments from January to July (R$ 12.86 billion/ US$ 8.2 billion), compared to the same period of 2007. Great part of these funds results from the Growth Acceleration Program (PAC). "We will have more than R$ 30 billion (US$ 19.1 billion) in federal government's investments, and PAC is partially responsible for it. State-owned companies and the private sector are out of such calculation", he declares. The private investments were also stressed by Mantega. He mentioned, as an example, the US$ 23 billion announced by the car industry in the 2009-2012 period. Besides the makers, the minister listed the allocations of funds foreseen by the railroad sector (R$ 4 billion/US$ 2.6 billion a year). The steel sector also has plans to invest more than US$ 15 billion. In Mantega's assessment, the country has such unprecedented volume of investments because there is great demand. In the end of last year, it reached a 7% growth. In the first quarter, the Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF) had an increase of 15% compared to the same period of 2007. For Mantega, Petrobrás and BNDES (National Development Bank) have an "unbelievable amount in investments" because a strong domestic market was developed as a result of the growth in the number of jobs, salary, government social programs and credit.
