‘BNDES has tricked the government and has resources to return’, says Guedes

Minister also defends privatization of Petrobras and investment of resources in poverty eradication funds and in carrying out public works

WALLACE MARTINS/FUTURA PRESS/ESTADÃO CONTENT
Paulo Guedes participated in an event that celebrated the 70 years of BNDES

the minister of Economy, Paulo Guedesparticipated in an event this Monday, 20th, in which the 70th anniversary of the Economic and Social Development Bank (BNDES). At the ceremony, the minister spoke and, despite praising the BNDES for favoring credit to small and medium-sized companies, he also stated that the institution owes billions to the government and applied ‘a trick on the Union’ by insuring the return of some values. “The capitalization of BNDES was made through a fixed-rate loan. When inflation rises, the subsidy increases. Brazil is subsidizing the BNDES. BNDES legal had the courage to go to the TCU to convince the TCU that it is the opposite and the TCU fell. They said that returning the money now would mean a loss to the bank. It’s the opposite. They are benefiting from the subsidy. You should be returning these resources, Brazil is at war”, he demanded.

Guedes also mentioned Petrobras, in focus this Monday after the resignation of the company’s president, and again defended that it be privatized. According to the economist, just putting the company on the market would make the market value go from R$450 billion to R$750 billion, and the government would raise more than R$250 billion, as it owns more than a third of the company. . This amount should be ‘returned to the people’. “We are going to create a fund to collect poverty, on the one hand, and the national reconstruction fund on the other, with the BNDES managing it,” suggested Guedes. “I want to reduce the Brazilian State, transform this public capital, instead of it being in the form of shares and companies, having a new hydroelectric plant from the national reconstruction fund or a transfer of resources to eradicate poverty, an income transfer, investing in human capital and in the most fragile”, he added. Guedes also signed an ordinance that “establishes the guidelines for the launch of the new Guarantee Fund for Investments (FGI) for micro, small and medium-sized companies (MSMEs)”, according to the BNDES, and allows for the reopening of the Emergency Credit Access Program ( peac).