Santander sees the Brazilian Government’s initiatives to promote credit as “positive”

The president of Santander Brazil, Mario Leão, assessed this Tuesday as “positive” the initiatives of the President’s Government Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to renegotiate unpaid debts and promote credit between the population and companies.

“We embrace all renegotiation and promotion programs” of the credit that comes from the Executive; “that matter is positive“, he indicated Leo in a press conference to explain the results of the Brazilian subsidiary of Santander in the first quarter of 2024.

In his opinion, with these programs, banks begin to have a “major warranty”; credit becomes cheaper; customers have more access to it and “the economy turns more”.

In this way, he insisted that the measures “procredit“are valid as long as they are implemented in a way”even”.

The executive expressed that they face these types of programs “head on” to, from them, see how to grow as a financial entity and “how to improve customer relationships”.

“Our position is to understand, debate, contribute and then move forward”he stated.

Since taking power, on January 1, 2023, the Lula Government has launched the ‘Desenrola’ program with the objective of restoring the solvency of delinquent debtors with gross monthly income of up to two minimum wages (almost 3,000 reais or US$ 600) or who are enrolled in some official social program.

Since its implementation, some eleven million people have benefited and 29,000 million reais (US$ 5,600 million or 5,240 million euros) in debts have been renegotiated.

Likewise, last week it presented another support program for micro, small and medium-sized businesses, which establishes mechanisms to also facilitate the renegotiation of debts and expand access to credit.

According to official data, at the end of 2023 there were around nine million micro, small and medium-sized companies in Brazil, and almost 60% of them had difficulties accessing financing due to their high levels of debt.

At the macroeconomic level, Leo said that disposable income, that is, the ability of natural persons to consume, “needs to evolve more” so that the supply of credit is broader.

“That means high wages and controlled inflation.”, he noted.

He also said that the fall in the official interest rate, currently at 10.75% annually, would contribute to this, although the volume of income has a greater impact, especially in the segment of individuals.