Mercadante announces R$ 20 billion in credit line for innovation

The president of the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), Aloizio Mercadante, announced, this Thursday (25), in São Paulo, that the development bank will release R$ 20 billion in credit for investments in innovation in the country . Mercadante provided the information while participating in the Industry Day event, which is being held at the Federation of Industries of São Paulo (Fiesp).

According to Mercadante, the interest rate will be 1.7% per year. “Yesterday (4) we approved R$ 20 billion from the BNDES for the next four years, in innovation, with an interest rate of 1.7% per year. Anyone who wants to do innovation can go to the BNDES and will have money at cheap interest”.

Mercadante also announced a BRL 2 billion line of credit just for export products. “And we are opening one more line (the second), of over R$ 2 billion, which can reach R$ 4 billion, so that the export industry can finance itself under the same conditions as we did for agriculture.”

According to Mercadante, the fixed interest rate for this line of credit will be 7.5%, in ten years, with a two-year grace period.

“We are paying BRL 2 billion and reducing by 61% the spread (difference between the purchase and sale price of an asset or a financial transaction) of the BNDES. We are going to the bone. We are practically giving up spread of the bank to help the industry to export”, said Mercadante, about the measures.

Mercadante also said that Brazilian industry needs a program along the lines of the Safra Plan, to encourage rural production. “We do need a vintage plan for the industry. Don’t tell me what subsidy is jabuticaba. Jabuticaba is having the highest interest rate with one of the lowest inflations on the planet, which is what we have today. A subsidy is not jabuticaba when it is transparent, well applied and targeted at strategic sectors.”