Brasília – The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) intends to invest approximately US$ 12 billion in Brazil in the next four years. According to the president of the institution, the Colombian Luis Alberto Moreno, half the funds may be allocated to projects related to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Moreno attended a meeting with the Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff this Tuesday (28th).
“In the coming four years, we are interested in providing from US$ 10 billion to US$ 12 billion in credit to Brazil,” he said upon leaving the meeting at Palácio do Planalto, the Brazilian presidential palace. Also in attendance was the minister of Sports, Orlando Silva. According to the IDB president, the financing should take place through agreements with the states and municipalities, following the model already in use.
This year alone, the IDB has invested approximately US$ 2 billion in Brazil. “We have investment in all states of Brazil,” he said. According to Moreno, the institution has keen interest in financing works at favelas (slums) and projects that will tackle urban issues.
He also declared that the IDB is going to allocate part of the investment to programmes for technical training of municipal servants in small cities, under Programa Brasil Sem Miséria (Poverty-Free Brazil Plan). For such, he should meet on Wednesday (29th) with the Brazilian minister of Social Development and Hunger Alleviation, Tereza Campello.
“We believe that our participation will concentrate on supplying technical training to teams in the city halls of small cities with serious poverty issues. Whenever you stumble upon a poverty issue, you will find that the government officials working there boast poor technical skills,” he said.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
