BNDES says it is stopping concessions without diluting payments to the Treasury.

but the deadline was extended and now there is more time to pay off the debt with the government, totaling a significant amount of R$22,6 billion to be returned to the national treasury. Furthermore, the financial institution will have to make the full payment on a date later than the current month, thus fulfilling its obligations.

The minister Mercadante was awaiting approval of the revision of the schedule for returning final resources by the TCU on Wednesday, 22nd, but the issue was not analyzed.

“We were informed that they will vote the following Wednesday”, replied Mercadante about the new deadline, emphasizing that the relationship between the bank and the TCU has been “very collaborative”. “They have full sovereignty and autonomy, but we are very confident that we will have a positive decision.”

Mercadante expects the TCU to approve the revised schedule for returning final resources next Wednesday.

The head of the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), Aloizio Mercadante, stated on Thursday, 23, that the Federal Audit Court (TCU) will deliberate next Wednesday, 29, on the refund of R$ 22,6 billion in resources retained by the bank for the National treasure. The original deadline for full payment ends this month, but BNDES agreed with the Ministry of Finance to postpone it, claiming that the bank's disbursement rate would be compromised.

BNDES will expand operations in the financial market

The Minister of Economy, Mercadante, stated that the banking institution plans to move forward and provide financial consultancy for initial public offerings of shares (IPOs). This practice is extremely profitable for investment banks, due to the high commissions involved, however, it has been uncommon. The last IPO on B3 took place in August 2021.

Despite this, the BNDES reaffirmed its conviction that there is no conflict of interest between its actions and that of private agents. “We are increasing competition in the issuance market. O BNDES contributes to the development of the market and to obtaining more competitive rates for companies”, stated Barbosa.

Collaboration also involves the participation of BNDES in the financial market. A significant part of this activity consists of organizing company issuances, an activity in which it has negotiated a total of R$15,5 billion this year so far, more than double the value observed in 2022. In the third quarter, it obtained R$500 millions in commissions for this service.

In June, the bank acquired R$1,8 billion of the R$3,8 billion in bonds issued by the sanitation concessionaire Iguá Rio, which contributed to making the offer viable in an unfavorable market period. In August, it acquired R$1,9 billion of the R$5,5 billion in shares from another company in the sector, Águas do Rio. In total, this year, it recorded R$10,9 billion in debentures on its balance sheet.

The bank recorded an accounting net profit of R$4,9 billion in the third quarter, driven by R$1,2 billion in dividends from Petrobras. Recurring profit reached R$2,9 billion, representing an increase of 21,3% compared to the previous year.

The Financial and Digital Credit Director for MSMEs, Alexandre Abreu, highlighted the occurrence of an unusual combination of factors throughout the year: the increase in the credit portfolio and profit at the same time that default rates decreased to just 0,01% . **This result demonstrates growth in loans, profits and a reduction in defaults**, said the executive.

In a traditional view, the development bank will grant loans corresponding to 1,1% of Gross Domestic Product over the next three years. Considering the main situation, the expectation is that this value will reach 1,4% in 2026 and, in the most positive scenario, reach 2% of GDP at the end of this period.

Postponing payments to the Treasury may be useful, but the BNDES is confident that its balance sheet is strong enough to grow in the medium term. The bank's Basel index, which measures liquidity reserves, reached 34,4% at the end of September, more than 20 percentage points above the minimum required by the Central Bank and considerably higher than the main commercial banks.

Expansion of the Credit Portfolio BNDES

For the incentive financial institution, increasing returns is essential to maintain the speed of growth of the loan portfolio, which reached the highest value in more than four years in September, reaching R$495,2 billion. In the third quarter, the BNDES released R$34,8 billion, an increase of 18,4% compared to the same period last year.

Strategic planning

The bank's director of Planning and Project Structuring, Nelson Barbosa, stated that the BNDES It does not intend to exceed the relative size it currently has, equivalent to 7% of GDP, far from the 16% recorded in 2015. However, the institution wishes to expand the amount of credit it makes available. “We hope to end the year with R$119 billion in loans released,” he stated. For next year, the optimistic forecast is to reach the R$137 billion mark.

The National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) needs to return to the government the resources that were injected into the bank during the period from 2008 to 2014. The total amount of contributions reached R$440,8 billion. Since 2015, the bank has reimbursed a total of R$689 billion, considering interest and correction. Furthermore, if dividends paid annually are taken into account, the Union received a total amount of R$798,1 billion from the BNDES in the last 14 years.

In the month of October, the BNDES suggested to the government the possibility of dividing the remaining balance over a period of eight years, in annual installments. The Ministry of Finance agreed with the proposal, however the implementation of this schedule is still subject to approval by the Federal Court of Auditors (TCU).

When announcing the financial results for the third quarter, on Friday, the 17th, the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) reiterated the importance of reassessing the deadline for returning resources to the National Treasury. The bank still has an obligation to return R$22,6 billion to the Union and, according to its executives, full payment this month, as initially planned, would result in a significant reduction in credit granting.

“If we pay R$22,6 billion now, this will have a decisive impact on liquidity. We would have to delay approvals and stop disbursement”, stated the president of the institution, Aloizio Mercadante, during a press conference. He highlighted that this pause would affect all sectors, from agribusiness to state governments.

Source: InfoMoney