BNDES contradicts Lula da Silva on foreign financing

The National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) took a position on President Lula da Silva’s recent statements about lending money to other countries, especially Latin American ones.

During a meeting in Buenos Aires, on Monday 23rd, the president said that BNDES will go back to financing works abroad.

In the past, Brazil has incurred losses due to defaults on these loans.

The BNDES said there is no demand for the funding of infrastructure works abroad, nor that this policy is on the radar of the institution.

In addition, the bank noted that an eventual change of route would depend on approval from the Federal Audit Court (TCU).

“There is no demand or forecast to finance infrastructure service projects abroad,” BNDES communicated on Tuesday 24.

“Any change in this policy will necessarily go through an understanding with the TCU, since the president of the Court, Bruno Dantas, has strengthened the role of collaborative monitoring of public policies by that institution.”

In the document, the BNDES did not cite the Argentina project sanctioned by Lula da Silva.

The bank also said that current efforts are directed towards leveraging the exportation of products and goods produced in Brazil, focusing on jobs and income, as well as strengthening the regional integration of production chains with scale, competitiveness, and added value.

With information from Revista Oeste