Dilma denies that money for RS was approved during the Bolsonaro administration

The president of the NDB (New Development Bank, its acronym in English), Dilma Rousseff, said this Tuesday (May 21, 2024) that the resources destined for Rio Grande do Sul “were not approved during the Bolsonaro government”.

“Contrary to what exponents of the Brazilian extreme right insinuate, the resources announced a week ago by Dilma Rousseff were not approved during the Bolsonaro government. Loan granting operations are much more recent. The oldest is from November 2023. The newest, from March this year”, reads a post on Dilma’s profile on X (formerly Twitter).

However, reporting by Poder360 had already shown that more than half of the US$1.1 billion (equivalent to R$5.8 billion) announced to help with the reconstruction of the State had already been agreed in contracts signed by the institution with the Brazilian government from 2020 to 2023.

The amount is part of projects signed between the BRICS bank and BNDES, Banco do Brasil and BRDE.

Of the total announced by Dilma:

• US$370 million they were closed during the administration of Jair Bolsonaro (PL), when Marcos Troyjo commanded the institution;
• US$250 millions were negotiated during the Bolsonaro government, but approved during the administration of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), already during the administration of Dilma.

The NDB, better known as the BRICS bank, is headquartered in Shanghai, China, and was created in 2015. The institution serves as an alternative to the World Bank and the IMF (International Monetary Fund). Its members are: Brazil, Russia, China, India, South Africa, Bangladesh, United Arab Emirates, and Egypt.

There is also a new line of credit, worth US$295 million, for BRDE, which is in final processing and should be completed in the coming weeks. Due to the procedure, this money will take longer to be transferred.

The only new amount in fact are the US$200 million which Dilma informed that will be passed on by the institution directly to the government of Rio Grande do Sul. As stated by the president of the NBD in X, the release of the money depends on the preparation of projects and, therefore, it will also take time to actually reach the people of Rio Grande do Sul.

Read the publication (read the full note at the end of the post):

Read the full note released this Tuesday (May 21, 2024) by Dilma Rousseff’s advisor:

“Press note

“1. The press office of Dilma Rousseff, president of the Novo Banco de Desenvolvimento (NDB), clarifies some details of the loan operations announced to face the public calamity in Rio Grande do Sul, due to floods and heavy rains.

“two. Contrary to what exponents of the Brazilian extreme right insinuate, the resources announced a week ago by Dilma Rousseff were not approved during the Bolsonaro government. Loan granting operations are much more recent. The oldest is from November 2023. The newest, from March of this year.

“3. Of the total of US$ 1.115 billion for Rio Grande do Sul, US$ 795 million — US$ 500 million from BNDES and US$ 295 million from BRDE — are from operations approved, respectively, on November 14, 2023, by the Federal Senate , and in March 2024, by the External Financing Committee of the Ministry of Planning.

“4. It is also worth highlighting that another US$200 million announced by President Dilma Rousseff, which will be invested directly by the NDB, depends on projects to be submitted by Brazilian authorities to the so-called BRICS Bank. In other words, these are even more recent operations.

“5. Of the total, US$995 million are operations carried out under the management of Dilma Rousseff. As for the “old” operations — US$100 million from BB and US$20 million from BRDE — both were now directed exclusively to Rio Grande do Sul.

“6. Finally, it is necessary to point out the harsh financial conditions under which Dilma received the NDB, upon taking office in April 2023. A bank only lends and makes investments with resources it raises in the market. Now, under the previous management, led by the nominee for president of the BRICS Bank by the Bolsonaro government, the NDB did not issue any bonds in the capital market in dollars for 15 months — from December 2021 to March 2023. Yuan bonds have also not been issued for seven months.

“7. Until Dilma Rousseff assumed the presidency, the NDB faced a serious liquidity crisis. The ability to support new investments for members — in addition to Brazil and the bank’s other partners — remained extremely limited due to the lack of resources to invest, precisely at a time when countries most needed these new resources.

“8. It was only under the direction of Dilma Rousseff that the NDB overcame the liquidity constraint. Since its arrival, the bank has returned to the capital markets numerous times. The risk agency Fitch itself (https://fitchratings.com/entity/new-development-bank-96664712…) recognized that liquidity problems had been overcome and changed the NDB’s risk outlook from “negative” to “stable”. Over the course of 2023 until May 2024, the BRICS Bank raised US$9 billion.

“9. NDB is now a well-capitalized and under-leveraged bank, with a pipeline of financing projects for its partners. And he continues to go to the market. The BRICS Bank prioritized Rio Grande Sul due to its commitment to facing natural disasters and solidarity with the people of Rio Grande do Sul in this time of crisis.

“10. Still regarding the NDB’s operating conditions, it is worth clarifying that its predecessor left the bank, in Shanghai, in March 2022, and did not return until leaving the presidency of the BRICS Bank, on March 24, 2023.

“Press office

“Dilma Rousseff”

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