BNDES: industry once again leads disbursements – 05/22/2023 – Market

Industry was the sector that received the largest share of disbursements in financing from BNDES (National Bank for Economic and Social Development) in the first quarter of 2023.

Considering only the period from January to March, it is the first time this has happened in ten years, that is, since 2013.

The result came amid the change of command in the public bank. Since taking office, in early February, the president of the BNDES in the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), Aloizio Mercadante, has been signaling that industry will be one of the focuses of the new administration.

From January to March 2023, the bank’s disbursements to different sectors totaled BRL 19.1 billion. Of this amount, 32% (R$ 6.1 billion) was allocated to industry.

Thus, the segment was ahead of the infrastructure sector, which received 28.9% of disbursements (R$ 5.5 billion). The infrastructure branch includes activities such as electricity, construction, transport and telecommunications.

Trade and services (19.8% or BRL 3.8 billion) and agriculture (19.2% or BRL 3.7 billion) closed the list of sectors in the first quarter of this year.

The infrastructure area had been receiving the largest share of BNDES disbursements from January to March. From 2014 to 2022, this sector received the most funds in the first quarter in 8 of the 9 years.

The exception was 2020. At the time, agriculture had the largest share of BNDES disbursements in the first quarter.

In a comparison with different intervals of the historical series, the period from January to March 2023 was the first since the fourth quarter of 2016 with industry leading the sector ranking.

In a statement, the BNDES classified the increase in industrial participation this year as a “significant increase”. This result, according to the bank, was driven by the growth of disbursements to factories in March.

According to the institution, the expectation is to have an increase in the industry’s representation in medium and long-term financing.

“It is expected that there will be an increase in industry participation in BNDES disbursements in the future, in view of measures to strengthen the industry, including the construction of a positive agenda together with the Executive and Congress”, says the note.

In current values ​​(without adjusting for inflation), the bank’s disbursements to different sectors increased from R$ 14.8 billion in the first quarter of 2022 to R$ 19.1 billion in the same period of 2023. The increase was approximately 29 %.

On the same basis of comparison, disbursements to industry rose by around 85% (from R$ 3.3 billion to R$ 6.1 billion). Meanwhile, resources for infrastructure fell by around 5% (from R$5.8 billion to R$5.5 billion).

In commerce and services, there was an increase of around 30% (from R$ 2.9 billion to R$ 3.8 billion). In agriculture, the advance was approximately 33% (from R$ 2.8 billion to R$ 3.7 billion).

“Industry had lost space within the bank’s disbursements. The increase in participation is a harbinger of the BNDES’ reorientation”, evaluates professor João Prates Romero, from Cedeplar (Regional Development and Planning Center), from UFMG (Federal University of Minas Gerais). General).

He considers the increase in resources for factories to be positive, but believes that this measure needs to target specific segments, such as those associated with technological transformations, for example.

“I hope that this resumption of the industry is through a more cutting-edge industry”, he says.

Of the BRL 6.1 billion disbursed by the BNDES to factories in the first quarter of 2023, the largest portion went to the transport material subsector. This activity received the equivalent of 42.6% (R$ 2.6 billion) of the amount allocated to industry.

Announcement of new line of credit

In an interview with the program Roda Viva, on TV Cultura, Mercadante indicated last week that the BNDES intends to expand credit options for the industry.

According to him, an announcement to that effect is expected to take place at Fiesp (Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo) on Thursday (25), the date that celebrates Industry Day.

When touching on this point, Mercadante also recalled that the bank earmarked another R$ 2 billion this month for a line of credit aimed at farmers with receivables in dollars. The modality was launched in April, with initial availability of R$ 2 billion.

“We are going to launch a similar line, one for export to the industry and another to finance the export industry. It is what I can do today without Treasury resources”, said Mercadante in Roda Viva.

“We are going to launch on the 25th, at Fiesp, a very strong line of support under the same conditions as we did for agriculture. You will see, I cannot speak yet, but we are also going to expand financing for agriculture”, he stated at the time.

In his inauguration speech, in February, the president of the BNDES praised the fact that Brazil is the “farm of the world”, in a reference to the national capacity for food production.

The petista, however, said that the country could not be just the farm and evaluated that industrial goods with high added value would be essential for development.

As shown to SheetBNDES disbursed in 2022 more resources in financing for agriculture than for industry for the fifth consecutive year.

This movement began in 2018, during the Michel Temer (MDB) government, and continued throughout the term of Jair Bolsonaro (PL).