The New Development Bank, founded by the BRICS in 2014, has moved quickly to syndicate a large loan, together with Brazilian state lending institutions, for reconstruction in the southern Brazil state of Rio Grande do Sul, which has been devastated by very destructive floods. The loan of 5.7 billion reais, equivalent to $1.115 billion, was reported by the NDB on May 14 as in partnership with the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), and the Regional Development Bank of the Far South (BRDE).
According to NDB President Dilma Rousseff’s message on X, it appears that the “BRICS Bank,” as it is known, will be lending $500 million in dollars in partnership with BNDES, half earmarked for small and medium-sized enterprises, and half for “environmental protection, infrastructure, water, sewage treatment, and disaster prevention works.” It will lend $495 million in partnership with BRDE, for “urban and rural development works, basic sanitation, and social infrastructure,” as well as urban roads, bridges, and highways.” And it will lend $100 million in partnership with Banco do Brasil, “for agricultural infrastructure, storage projects, and logistics infrastructure.”
Rousseff wrote, “The BRICS Bank is committed 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.” Rousseff was President of Brazil in 2014, when the country hosted the BRICS summit in Fortaleza.
