The New Development Bank (NDB), also known as the BRICS Bank, will allocate $1.115 billion to assistance measures for Rio Grande do Sul state, in South Brazil. The announcement was made on social media Tuesday (May 14) by NDB President Dilma Rousseff.
On X, Rousseff classified the moment facing the Brazilian state as difficult and painful, and described it as a public calamity. “These have been weeks of great pain and sadness. I spoke with President Lula and [Rio Grande do Sul] Governor Eduardo Leite about how to deal with this dramatic situation and to ascertain how we could provide financial aid.”
“The BRICS Bank has a commitment and will work to rebuild and restore the state’s infrastructure. We want to help people rebuild their lives. We are going to allocate resources to the state as quickly as possible, adding up to $1.115 billion,” she wrote.
The amount, Rousseff reported, will be released in collaboration with four Brazilian banks—national development bank BNDES, Banco do Brasil, and the BRDE, a development bank created by Southern states.
“The management of these funds is flexible. The allocation of this money can be directed according to the needs of the state,” she went on to declare.
“I’m sure that, through the strength of the people of Rio Grande do Sul, the solidarity of the Brazilian people and the international community, this crisis will be overcome. We must take all measures to ensure it never happens again,” she concluded.
Former Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff was elected president of the NDB in March last year. She replaced Marcos Troyjo, onetime special secretary of the former Ministry of Economy, who held the post since July 2020. Rousseff will preside over the BRICS Bank until July 2025, when Brazil’s term at the helm of the Shanghai-based financial institution ends. Each BRICS country—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—presides over the bank for a rotating 5-year term.
Latin American bank releases $746 mi for Rio Grande do Sul
Like the BRICS Bank, the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF) also unveiled Tuesday (May 14) a package of measures with the potential to reach $746 million in financial resources to support the reconstruction of Rio Grande do Sul state.
“We express our absolute solidarity with the country and make ourselves available to support the immediate relief work for the victims and the reconstruction of the state’s infrastructure, in coordination with the directives of the federal, state, and municipal governments,” CAF President Sergio Díaz-Granados said in a statement.
The bank immediately made available a donation of $250 thousand to support emergency work and $1 million in non-reimbursable cooperation for the Ministry of Planning and Budget, to be used for climate change mitigation measures.
Source: Agência Brasil