12/09/2008 10h50
SP creates a development bank to attract investments
Folha de S. Paulo - 12/09/2008
Yesterday the government of São Paulo announced the creation of a development bank, similar to the BNDES (Brazilian Development Bank), and of an agency to attract investments to the State. Although its implementation was already underway for some time, the evaluation is that the new agencies should increase the margin of action of the State in view of the international financial crisis. According to the governor of São Paulo, José Serra (PSDB), the development bank starts working in April, with initial funds of R$ 1 billion (US$ 434.8 million), resulting from the sale of the Nossa Caixa bank to the Banco do Brasil bank. The institution may also raise funds from the very BNDES, from the Federal Savings Bank (Caixa Econômica Federal) and from multilateral organizations, like the World Bank and the IDB (Inter-American Development Bank). Before São Paulo, 12 other States had already created their own development banks. "It will be a São Paulo BNDES, for the small- and average-sized companies that do not have the capacity, do not have conditions to deal with a financing with such a big restriction (due to the crisis)", said Serra. According to him, the bank will work in several sectors of the economy. The agency of promotion of investments -
Investe São Paulo - should go into operation as of the second half of January. The agency is going to add a portfolio of 40 projects in the amount of R$ 10 billion (US$ 4.35 billion) from the Secretariat of Development. "Our goal is to double these investments", said Serra. For Cláudio Vaz, appointed president of
Investe São Paulo, with the agency the investor starts having one "single counter" to look for the State. "Before, the investor had to go through several instances of the government", he affirmed. The president of the Abdib (Brazilian Association of the Infrastructure and Capital Goods Industries), Paulo Godoy, says that, due to the shortage of credit resulting from the crisis, it is important to create new options of fomentation. Serra affirmed that the crisis will not affect the investments of the State in 2009, but he admitted that maybe it will be necessary to make changes in the Budget, specially to restrain the costs with the government's funding.
