Brazil funding of green projects from sustainable bonds off to a slow start

By Marcela Ayres

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil is still in the early stages of funding environmental projects with proceeds from its first sustainable sovereign bonds but expects to meet deadlines in the bonds' terms, the Treasury said on Friday.

Of the 20.5 billion reais ($3.6 billion) raised through two bond issues in November 2023 and June 2024, 9% - or 1.9 billion reais - was assigned to environmental projects through July, a Treasury report showed.

Both issues, which were well received by investors, called for 50-60% of the funds to go to environmental initiatives and 40-50% to social initiatives. The government has 24 months from the issue dates to put the money to work.

The Treasury's general coordinator of strategic planning for public debt, Luiz Fernando Alves, told a news conference that the timeline will be met.

Implementation has been slowed by the process of structuring environmental projects and channeling funds to them, he said. The money flows through a climate fund managed by development bank BNDES.

The government transferred 10.4 billion reais to the bank in April for the work.

"Since the funds reached BNDES at the end of April, it was in May and June that projects began to be structured," said Alves. "The time was short between the fund allocation to the Climate Fund and this entire process."

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been trying to position Brazil, Latin America's largest economy, as a top destination for green investment.

Social spending has absorbed 8.2 billion reais of the bond proceeds.

($1 = 5.7594 reais)

(Reporting by Marcela Ayres; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)