President of Sebrae criticizes high interest rate practiced by BC

The president of the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (Sebrae), Décio Lima (PT), said, on a visit to Curitiba (PR), that micro and small entrepreneurs cannot live with the Selic at 13.75 %. The rate serves as a reference for the National Support Program for Micro and Small Businesses (Pronampe), which had the rules for renegotiating the payment of loans sanctioned this Monday (24) by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).

The program has a monthly interest cap (6% plus Selic) and creates a minimum grace period of 12 months. The law also provides that loan agreements concluded from 2021 onwards can be renegotiated under the new rules, which provide for a period of six years for loan repayment, provided that the renegotiation follows conditions established by the federal government.

“We are not going to take Brazil out of hunger and out of the inclusion process generated by this extraordinary culture that is entrepreneurship with high interest rates. The Central Bank is benefiting the financial system,” said Lima, who is a former federal deputy for the PT and was mayor of Blumenau.

According to him, it is necessary to advance in structural reforms to reduce the federal, state and municipal bureaucracy that hinders the life of micro and small enterprises. “Only in this way will we be able to simplify the access of millions of entrepreneurs to the formality”.

The Map of Companies, from the Ministry of Development, points out that 99% of them are micro and small, being responsible for 62% of the employed workforce and 27% of the GDP.

Lima also states that he intends to use his ability to dialogue with the president to make mechanisms to support micro and small entrepreneurs viable.