The Brazilian state of Espírito Santo will support the financial sustainability of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) against the COVID-19 crisis as the backbone of jobs and the production sector with a $30 million loan approved by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

The program will provide liquidity to these three classes of company through loans for working capital granted by the Banco de Desenvolvimento do Espírito Santo S/A (BANDES), through a line of financing called a Giro Emergencial. The funds will help MSMEs in the state’s 78 municipalities.

The goal is for BANDES to preserve production and jobs created by MSMEs, particularly in the sectors hardest hit by the pandemic, such as manufacturing, retail trade and services.

The plan also aims to encourage gender inclusion by collecting and monitoring disaggregated data on the sex of the leader or owner of these firms according to best practices. This is expected to boost the share of working capital loans for female-led MSMEs in BANDES’s portfolio.

The $30 million IDB loan has an amortization period of 25 years, with a grace period of five and a half years and an interest rate based on LIBOR.