BNDES can put more resources in the economy if crisis continues

The president of the National Bank for Social Development (BNDES), Gustavo Montezano, said on Tuesday (16) that the bank has more resources to "put in the economy" if the crisis generated by the pandemic of the new coronavirus is prolonged.
Montezano participated on Tuesday in a hearing in the joint committee of Congress that discusses actions to combat the crisis generated by the pandemic.
He was asked about BNDES's ability to expand its operations and grant more loans to contain the effects of the crisis.
"In terms of operational capacity, the bank does have the ability to do more. The bank has operational capability, yes. Our big challenge right now is the run time," Montezano said. "The challenge is to execute this quickly and quickly for the time that is necessary," he added.
Currently, among the actions in which BNDES participates to mitigate the effects of the pandemic are:
- the expansion of the credit line for working capital for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises
- an emergency line for the health sector for the expansion of beds and purchase of hospital supplies
- credit for payroll financing of companies that invoice between R$ 360,000 and R$ 10 million per year
For Montezano, one of the main difficulties of the moment is fulfilling all the requirements for releasing the money at the speed that the crisis is demanding.
"The challenge is to put an amount of this size in the speed and quality that the public sector, regulation, self-control, legislation, demands us and has to be met. This temporal challenge is even more relevant than the installed capacity of BNDES itself", said the president of BNDES.
He recalled that the bank should also be aware of the need for profit. "We have the resource, yes, available to put more in the market and in the economy, but always remembering that this resource needs to make a profit, need to pay their bills."
Montezano also stated during the hearing that BNDES suspended transfers to the Treasury until the end of the year.
The president of BNDES said that the resumption of the payment schedule should be discussed after overcoming the state of calamity.
"What we have today agreed with the Treasury is that any return to the Treasury is suspended until the end of the year, for the duration of the period of calamity. Starting in January next year, assuming that the calamity ends, we start to discuss a resumption of the schedule", he declared.