Agência Brasil*
Brasília – The minister for the cities of Brazil, Márcio Fortes, stated that 2005 was a year in which the federal government of Brazil turned record funds to habitation. In an interview to magazine Revista Brasil yesterday (17), the minister stated that adding the values invested by the federal government, the Federal Savings Bank and by the severance pay indemnity fund, the total reaches R$ 15.3 billion (US$ 6.7 billion at current exchange rates).
According to Fortes, the main target was to reach low-income families, where housing deficit problems are concentrated: "We have turned R$ 9.2 billion (approximately US$ 4 billion) to the construction, redoing and urbanization of slums. (…) Around 46% of this value was turned to families with income of up to three minimum salaries (around US$ 400)." According to him, around 70% of the funds applied by the Federal Government were turned to low-income families.
The minister also announced that the target for 2006 is to reach R$ 18.6 billion (US$ 8.1 billion) in housing investment. "With this value we will manage to supply 70,000 units, we are going to keep the market active all the time. We must also cheapen the cost of housing, we are working to accelerate the reduction of the deficit," he pointed out.
*Translated by Mark Ament
