Brazil, Latin America’s biggest economy, announced the opening of a credit line with the lowest interest rate in history for industrial technological innovation.
“The interest rate on the loan will be 4 percent, the lowest in history for the innovation area,” Vice President and Minister of Development, Industry, Trade, and Services, Geraldo Alckmin, said during a seminar at the Federation of Industries of Sao Paulo.
The credit line, for 66 billion reais (about 13 billion dollars), which will start in September, is part of the neo-industrialization strategy launched by the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Among the classes of projects included are those related to the use of artificial intelligence, the development of sustainable aviation fuels, the digitalization of the economy, green hydrogen, and the development of sustainable forms of mobility.
“They are resources to give impetus to the industry,” said Alckmin in statements collected by the official press.
The resources with subsidized interest rates will be granted by the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), the largest development bank in Latin America, and the state-owned Financier of Studies and Projects (FINEP).
The industrial sectors that present technological innovation projects to provide the country with a leap in quality in productive development will have a payment term of 16 years, with the possibility of up to four years of grace without paying.