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Brazil announces 20 bln USD in lines of credit to boost economy

Xinhua, January 29, 2016 Adjust font size:

Brazilian Finance Minister, Nelson Barbosa, announced on Thursday that the country was opening up new lines of credit worth 83 billion reais (20 billion U.S. dollars) to boost the country's flagging economy.

The announcement, which came without in-depth details, was made to the Economic and Social Development Council (CDES), a committee of entrepreneurs, union leaders and civil society representative, put together by President Dilma Rousseff to find solutions to the economic crisis.

The new lines of credit will be backed by public banks, whose coffers are full after receiving a total of 15 billion U.S. dollars in late loan payments from the government in December.

Upon announcing the creation of the CDES last week, Rousseff said that the government's foremost concern was now stemming rising unemployment.

In 2015, Brazil's GDP contracted by an estimated 3.8 percent, with analysts expecting a further drop of 3 percent in 2016.

According to Barbosa, the new lines of credit will be accompanied by the creation of a new limit for public spending growth.

On Thursday, the Brazilian Treasury also announced that the central government's deficit had reached a record level in 2015, reaching 1.94 percent of GDP. Endit