Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega
Brazil’s government is studying tax breaks on long-term infrastructure and housing credit operations as a means of stimulating longer-term private sector financing, Finance Minister Guido Mantega said Monday.
The breaks are part of a wider long-term credit package that the government plans to announce in a month, he told reporters in Sao Paulo.
He said that Brazil relies too much on the state-run BNDES, the Brazilian National Development Bank, for long-term credit.
The aim is to facilitate the issuance of debentures to fund big public works projects and stimulate the securitization of mortgage loans, which is an underdeveloped area in Brazil.
Meanwhile, market regulator CVM is looking at ways of standardizing debentures issues as a first step towards creating a secondary market for local corporate debt, he added.
By Alastair Stewart
Dow Jones Newswires
If there is a connection between cleanliness and public affection, it is being played out on the streets of Brazil. Here people continually exhibit their passion for both rituals.
Brazilians shower twice a day and brush their teeth after every meal, which might be five or six times every day. They power wash their sidewalks and store fronts and keep their homes fastidiously clean and neat, thanks to the powerful hands of the family maids.
In Curitiba, a stroll down the street, at any time on any day, reveals another task-force consisting of hundreds of men (and a few women) employed to sweep the streets by hand. Orange-suited cleanliness heroes pick up trash, fallen leaves, and even scrape weeds from between the cracks of the cobblestone sidewalks.
Likewise, public affection is the everyday norm. Although most often practiced by the young, it is not their exclusive domain. Few couples refrain from a romantic moment: witnessing the likes of rainbows in waterfalls or seaside sunrises.
One night I went to the movies at the local mall and discovered a discount promotion. My wife and I could obtain half-price tickets if we kissed in front of the ticket counter. (more…)
