Mar 21, 2013

• Releases for machinery and equipment, in the amount of R$ 10.2 billion, show investments have resumed
• Micro, small and medium-sized companies account for 47% of the total amount disbursed
 
Disbursements from the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) reached R$ 21.2 billion in the first two months of 2013, an increase of 39% if compared to the same period last year. The main highlights were the increase in releases for machinery and equipment, which indicated that investment in industry has resumed, and the large disbursement from the BNDES to micro, small and medium-sized companies.

Up 112% (R$ 6.9 billion disbursed), industry led the growth of the BNDES releases in January/February. The high was in all industrial segments, among them transport equipment, metallurgy, chemical and petrochemical industries.

With this, industry accounted for 32% of the BNDES’ total disbursements within the period. The good performance of the capital goods sector reflected in Finame, which accounted for 70% of the BNDES’ automatic operation disbursements in the first two months of 2013.

Releases from the BNDES Finame totaled R$10.2 billion, with a high of 60% in January/February 2013, if compared to the same period in 2012. The result was boosted by machinery and equipment with no wheels (non-transport), whose disbursements grew 78%, and agricultural equipment.

Approvals in the amount of R$ 25.7 billion also had a significant 30% increase if compared to the first two months in 2012. In the industrial sector, approvals for new projects, in the amount of R$ 8.1 billion, grew 43% in the bimonthly comparison. In infrastructure, approvals rose 4%.

The good performance of the BNDES in the first two months of 2013 indicates a recovery in economic activity. In February alone, disbursements of R$ 11.1 billion showed growth of 36.4% in relation to February 2012 - a significant expansion, especially if we consider, due to the Carnaval holiday, that February 2013 had fewer working days than February 2012.

The largest contribution to the BNDES' performance in January/February 2013 was made by micro, small and medium-sized companies (MSMEs), which accounted for 47% of the Bank’s total releases in the period.

In absolute terms, the amount disbursed, R$ 10 billion, is the largest volume of credit already made available in a two month period to smaller companies. The market share was higher than that of large companies (45% of the total amount disbursed) and of medium-sized companies (8%). Growth in reimbursements for MSMEs was 45.7% in the bimonthly comparison, a rate higher than the expansion registered in all the BNDES’ operations.

The MSMEs’ result is in keeping with the BNDES’ recent performance, which has shown an increasing share of smaller companies. In 2012, some 32% of the BNDES’ total releases were directed to these companies, against 20% in the early 2000s.

The factors that have contributed mostly to growing support for MSMEs are the BNDES card, which disbursed more than R$ 9 billion in 2012, and the BNDES Investment Maintenance Program (BNDES PSI), with releases of approximately R$ 25 billion to micro, small and medium-sized companies in 2012.

The positive results of the BNDES represent the investment stimulus measures adopted by the government, such as expanding the offer of credit, competitive interest rates through the BNDES PSI — which finances the purchase of machinery and equipment — and tax breaks. The BNDES PSI disbursements totaled R$ 11 billion in January/February, more than half of the Bank’s total releases within the period.