Brazil’s Paraíba state government and federally controlled savings bank Caixa Econômica Federal (CEF) have signed financing agreements worth 67.5mn reais (US$42.8mn) aimed at improving the state’s water supply and sanitation.

Work will take place in state capital João Pessoa and the surrounding municipalities of Bayeux, Cabedelo, Santa Rita and Conde. The state will spend 35.4mn reais to improve sanitation and 32.1mn reais on potable water, according to a state government release.

In terms of sanitation, a 33.4mn-real project that falls under phase II of the country’s growth acceleration plan (PAC) will take place in João Pessoa. Work involves building a sewerage network, pumping station and an outfall pipeline as well as installing 11,000 domestic connections,

Another 2.02mn reais has been earmarked for additional sanitation work in João Pessoa, Cabedelo, Bayeux and Conde (read more)

Google expects revenue from its Brazilian operations to surge 80 per cent this year as the government pours huge amounts of investment into the sector, making the country one of the company’s most promising growth markets.

Giving Brazil’s poor more access to the internet and improving connection speeds is a priority of the country’s new president, Dilma Rousseff, who sees the web as the best way to accelerate social and economic development.

“Brazil is a beautiful opportunity for the digital world,” said the head of Google’s Brazilian subsidiary, Fábio Coelho, in an interview with the Financial Times. “Last year we grew 80 per cent in Brazil in terms of revenue and we expect to grow at the same pace this year.”

Latin America accounted for 2-3 per cent of Google’s $29.3bn revenue last year, with analysts estimating that Brazil brought in as much as $500m.

By Samantha Pearson in São Paulo (read more)