São Paulo – Led by Grupo Petrobras, Brazilian state-owned companies had the highest combined investment since the government started keeping records, in 2000. According to information released this Wednesday (12th) by the Ministry of Planning, Budget and Management, state-run enterprises invested R$ 113.5 billion (US$ 47 billion) in 2013. The sum amount is up 15.9% from R$ 97.9 billion (US$ 40.6 billion) in 2012.
Out of the total amount, R$ 99.2 million (US$ 41.1 million) were disbursed by the 16 companies which comprise Grupo Petrobras, up 15.4% from 2012. Eletrobras, a power generation, transmission and distribution utility, invested R$ 7.2 billion (US$ 2.9 billion), up 22.9% from 2012. The Brazilian Airport Infrastructure Company (Infraero) invested R$ 1.6 billion (US$ 663 million), up 23.9% from 2012. According to Ministry of Planning data released by Agência Brasil, government-owned financial companies invested a combined R$ 3.4 billion (US$ 1.4 billion), up 9.5% from 2012.
Since 2003, state-owned company investment has seen an actual increase of 205% in Brazil. In that year, investment stood at R$ 37.2 billion (US$ 15.4 billion) in updated values, averaging at 11.8% a year. The investment-to-GDP ratio has gone up as well. In 2003, state-owned investment accounted for 1.3% of the GDP. Last year, the rate was 2.4%.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum