With the operating rules of the Working Capital Program for Business Preservation (CGPE) regulated by the National Monetary Council (CMN), credit should begin to be offered in the coming days to micro, small and medium-sized entrepreneurs who face difficulties with the pandemic of the new coronavirus.
"The operations can already be carried out and we believe that, in a more structured way, financial institutions will be offering the product as of next week," stated the inspection director at the Central Bank, Paulo Souza.
“We are convinced that the CGPE will encourage access to credit by micro and small and medium-sized companies with maximum potential to reach R$ 120 billion by the end of the year,” said Souza.
For the regulation, approved by the CMN and published in the Official Gazette of the Union this Wednesday (22), the credit granted by the creditor institutions of the CGPE will be used exclusively for the working capital of companies, with a minimum term of thirty-six months. The minimum grace period is six months for the beginning of debt repayment.
At least 80% of the program will target smaller companies with annual gross revenues of up to R$ 100 million. "With this, we ensure an initial period necessary for the entrepreneur to have the resources to go through the most acute phase of retraction in their activity and, later, the necessary time to pay off their loan", evaluated the director of the Central Bank, Paulo Souza.
The regulation also prohibits the contract for the new credit line from establishing any type of limitation on the free movement of funds by debtors, binding them, for example, to the payment of previous debts contracted with the creditor institution.
The program
The Working Capital Program for Business Preservation was created by Provisional Measure No. 992, of July 16, 2020. The credit is intended for companies with annual sales of up to R$ 300 million and can be contracted until December 31 of this year.
“The program is yet another initiative of the National Monetary Council and the Central Bank to keep the credit market heated even in the face of the adverse situation caused by the pandemic”, said the supervisory director of the Central Bank, Paulo Souza.
The loans will be made with resources from the financial institutions themselves. The Central Bank estimates that the program has the potential to increase credit granting by up to R$ 120 billion. Banks and institutions that make loans under this new line of credit may use part of their losses to obtain tax benefits in the payment of Income Tax and Social Contribution on Net Income (CSLL).
“Its main difference in relation to other programs is that in the CGPE all the credit risk and resources are fully supported by the financial institutions themselves. On the other hand, and only if they lend, these institutions will have an important incentive in terms of strengthening their capital base”, explained Souza.
In addition, borrowing companies will be exempt from presenting a series of certificates, as regularity with the INSS and the Treasury, which may facilitate access for those who are already in debt.
The measure also provides for the sharing of fiduciary alienation, which is to offer the same good to guarantee more than one credit operation. Thus, respecting the total value of the asset, the same property or vehicle, for example, may serve as a guarantee for more than one credit operation with the same creditor, which should reduce the interest for the borrower.
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