Brazil misses out on port investment

However, $3bn was theoretically available, meaning that some $2.24bn– or 73.4% – was not invested.

These figures, published by consultant R.Amaral & Associados, are significant, given that the country’s Social Economic and Development Bank (BNDES) has confirmed it is lending up to $812m to Cuba to fund construction of its Mariel Port.

2010 was SEP’s best year to date, when it managed to spend 36.6% of its then budget of $32.71m. In the first ten months of last year, just 16.7% of the budgetary allocation of $503m was spent.

SEP now has a new man in charge: Congressman Edinho Araújo. However, his main challenge is to boost port investment at a time when the government is trying to balance the books.