Brazil Treasury may lend $13.5 bln to BNDES this year -source

Mon May 12, 2014 5:09pm EDT

May 12 (Reuters) – Brazil’s Treasury is in talks to lend about 30 billion reais ($13.5 billion) to state-run development bank BNDES this year, a finance ministry source told Reuters on Monday.

Last year the Treasury transferred 39 billion reais to BNDES to bolster credit to large companies and exporters, and jump-start an economy that has slowed sharply since 2010.

Many economists said those capital transfers, which increased sharply after the 2008-2009 global financial crisis, have eroded public accounts and may threaten the sustainability of the country’s debt.

President Dilma Rousseff has promised to gradually reduce loans to the BNDES and limit public spending. ($1 = 2.22 Brazilian reais) (Reporting by Luciana Otoni; Writing by Alonso Soto; Editing by nSteve Orlofsky)