Brazil’s state development bank BNDES will pay 4.8 billion reais ($1.22 billion) in dividends to the Treasury, supporting efforts by the government to balance its 2015 accounts, a local newspaper reported on Saturday.
The Estado de S.Paulo, citing sources with knowledge of the decision, said the bank’s board approved the payment on Wednesday after it came under strong pressure from the government’s economic team.
The bank has not paid dividends to the Treasury, its only shareholder, since September 2014.
The 2015 payment was approved after the government paid 15.1 billion reais of its debt with the BNDES from 2014, the paper said.
The debt led to allegations that President Dilma Rousseff was using accounting tricks that broke budget laws and allowed her to spend more to boost the economy during last year’s re-election campaign. The so-called “back-peddling” is the focus of an opposition bid to impeach her.
Brazil Energy Insight 
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