SP Government agency opens new credit line for oil sector
Valor Econômico
The Government of São Paulo released this week a credit line of the Nossa Caixa Desenvolvimento agency for small and medium-sized enterprises in the oil and gas industry. The measure is part of the efforts of the Administration to develop the new market in the State and it aims at the industries in the chain of suppliers to the sector. "Our goal is to meet the demand with the perspective of growth of the sector in the State", says Milton Luiz de Melo Santos, Managing Director of the agency.
The São Paulo agency of promotion will operate with interest rates of around 8% a year - 0.65% a month plus the IPC/Fipe (Consumer Price Index issued by the Economic Research Institute Foundation) - and term for payment of up to seven years, and a two-year period of grace. To have access to the line, the company should have annual revenues between R$ 240 thousand (US$ 141.2 thousand) and R$ 100 million (US$ 58.8 million) and be headquartered in the State. The value of the loan should be between R$ 30 thousand (US$ 17.7 thousand) and R$ 30 million (US$ 17.7 million), depending on the revenue.
The São Paulo agency has R$ 600 million (US$ 353 million) in capital available and it has disbursed R$ 200 million (US$ 117.7 million), according to the latest balance sheet. Of those, R$ 130 million (US$ 76.5 million) are capital of the agency, and R$ 70 million (US$ 41.2 million) are transfers of funds from the BNDES.
The Government of São Paulo wants to turn Nossa Caixa Desenvolvimento, which is in operation for a year, into an important arm for the growth of the oil and gas activity in the State, and to do so, it has plans to increase the capital of the agency, from R$ 1 billion (US$ 588 million), to something near R$ 10 billion (US$ 5.9 billion) with the future collection of royalties. Santos explains that of the nearly 460 thousand companies currently operating in the oil and natural gas chain in the country nearly 30% are in São Paulo. "The sector is already featuring explosive growth, and with the pre-salt, it will grow even more", says the Executive.