Brazil

The development objectives of the Second Minas Gerais Development Partnership Project for Brazil are to: (i) to help the State of Minas Gerais improve the efficiency... Show More + and effectiveness of public resource use and allocation for economic and social development; (ii) to support the adoption of innovations in public management by the State; and (iii) to support the state in strengthening its results-based management system of monitoring and evaluation of results. The extension is necessary for the project to be fully and successfully completed. Additional time is needed to complete technical assistance activities of strategic importance to the borrower, related to the new institutional arrangements introduced for the management of the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte (MRBH), the state capital. The activities seek to support the development of master plans to guide urban and economic development in key areas of the metropolitan region. This initiative could have potential demonstration effects for other metropolitan areas in Brazil. The contract with the consulting company was signed in early December 2012.This will be the third extension of the project. Show Less -

The development objective of the Sao Paulo Feeder Roads Project for Brazil is to improve the efficiency of the paved municipal road network. Efficiency is to be improved... Show More + as a result of improvements to the institutional framework used by the Borrower in four key areas to deliver adequate transport conditions to users i.e. planning; environmental licensing; participation of private sector; and execution, combined with improvements in the condition of the paved municipal road network. The allocation is necessary for following reasons: (i) optimizing the use of the proceeds of the parent loan by distributing the unallocated amount between works, non-consultant services and consultant services in support to the state program of rehabilitation of municipal paved roads; and (ii) goods, non-consultant services, training and consultant services to support institutional strengthening activities mainly to the one of the beneficiary entities, the State Secretariat of Transport. There are no outstanding audits. Show Less -

The objective of the Additional Financing for the Sao Paolo Trains and Signalling Project for Brazil is to: a) improve the level-of-service provided to the urban rail... Show More + transport users in the São Paulo Metropolitan Region in a safe and cost-efficient manner by increasing the peak-hour and off-peak carrying capacity of lines A and F of the Companhia Paulista de Trens Metropolitanos (CPTM) and Lines 1, 2 and 3 of the Sao Paulo Metro Company (Metro); and b) continue the strengthening of the transport management and policy framework in the Sao Paulo Metropolitan Region (SPMR). As the signaling and track upgrade components of the Project are significantly delayed, the target indicator values for level-of-service (number of trains and average trip duration) originally expected in 2012 and 2013 will only be achieved in 2014 and 2015 considering the most recent schedule presented by the Borrower. The tables in the annex of this paper reflect the new target dates for the indicators which otherwise remain unchanged. Throughout project implementation, the implementing agencies (METRO and CPTM) and the Borrower represented by the Metropolitan Transport Secretariat have given appropriate attention to fiduciary (financial management and procurement) and safeguards (social and environmental) requirements as per Bank policies and guidelines. There are no outstanding audits. In addition, neither the loan in particular, nor the country in general is subject to an ongoing suspension of loan disbursements. Show Less -

The development objective of the Third, fourth, and fifth Phase of Rio Grande do Sul Integrated Municipal Infrastructure Project (APL) is to strengthen the capacity... Show More + of the municipalities of Bage, Pelotas, Rio Grande, Santa Maria and Uruguaiana to provide selected infrastructure services and employment opportunities for their population. The following factors are the main drivers of the restructurings: the Brazilian Real (BRL) has appreciated significantly against the United States Dollar (USD) since Project preparation, going from an average of BRL 2.2 for USD 1 at the time of appraisal/approval to an average exchange rate of BRL 1.77 since 2010, corresponding to the contracting and disbursement launch periods, there has been a significant increase in construction costs in Brazil, accompanying the scaling up of Federal Government's investment in infrastructure and economic growth, and there were also delays in initiating some activities related to the procurement processes and/or the finalization of the detailed designs. Show Less -

The development objective of the Bahia Poor Urban Areas Integrated Development Project for Brazil is to reduce urban poverty in a sustainable manner, targeting the poorest... Show More + and most vulnerable sections of Salvador and strategic cities of the state of Bahia with access to basic services and improved housing and social support services. The closing date of the project will be extended from November 30, 2012 until October 31, 2013. This will be the third extension of the closing date for a cumulative period of 33 months. The extension is, therefore, necessary to ensure that the remaining works and resettlement activities are concluded with effective implementation support provided by the Bank. The extension would make up for the delays in implementing the resettlement activities, and allow the time needed to agree with each affected household on a customized solution and to implement it. Show Less -

The development objective of the Additional Financing for the Rio de Janeiro Sustainable Rural Development Project for Brazil is to increase the adoption of integrated... Show More + and sustainable farming systems approaches in specific areas of the borrower's territory, thus contributing to the higher-order objective of increasing small-scale farming productivity and competitiveness in those areas. The additional financing will be used for: enabling the completion of original project activities (19 percent of the additional loan amount) by restoring the portion of the original loan amount that has been used for the emergency rehabilitation activities associated with the natural disaster of January 2011 in the Serrana region; and scaling up the project's impact and development effectiveness (81 percent of proposed additional loan amount). The additional financing will not result in any change in the project's development objective. The additional financing will be accompanied by an extension of the closing date of the project from November 30, 2016 to November 30, 2018. This two-year extension would be necessary to complete the activities to be initiated between 2012 and 2016, as the project gradually expands to new areas. Show Less -

The development objective of the Second Paraiba Rural Poverty Reduction Project for Brazil is to support the Government of Paraiba's efforts to reduce the incidence... Show More + of rural poverty by: (a) improving access to small-scale socioeconomic infrastructure and services; (b) raising incomes and capital assets through investments in productive activities while facilitating linkages between small producers and national and international markets; and (c) strengthening the capacity of Municipal Councils (MCs) and Community Associations (CAs) to raise funding and harmonize policies and institutional arrangements for delivery of public investments intended to benefit the rural poor. The project PDO and Implementation Progress (IP) are moderately satisfactory. To date, 400 community subprojects have been approved for financing and implementation, benefiting some 24,000 rural families. The rating for financial management is moderately satisfactory and all other fiduciary ratings (i.e., social and environmental safeguards, procurement) are rated satisfactory. The reallocation responds to the borrower's request, approved by the Guarantor's Ministry of Planning through its Commission for External Finance (COFIEX) on August 8, 2012 and received by the Bank on September 4, 2012, to absorb unallocated loan proceeds to finance community subjects and administrative costs, in attainment of the PDO. Show Less -

The higher level objective of the project is to promote economic, social, and environmentally sustainable development through the implementation of an integrated water... Show More + resources management system. This restructuring paper makes the following changes to the project: a) extension of 14 months for closing date, from November 30, 2012 to March 31, 2014; b) reallocation of loan proceeds among its categories; and c) adjustment of project targets and indicators to ensure that these are measurable within the timeframe for completion and in line with the priority activities being supported by the project. The main reasons for these changes are: 1) delays in start up and implementation of activities; 2) changes in the state government administration resulting in major changes in the implementing agency teams; 3) exchange rate losses; 4) increase in project costs due to the gap between preparation and implementation and to the heating of the Brazilian market caused by investment programs launched by the Federal government; and 5) need for better alignment of activities prioritized within the scope of the project to the amount of available funding. Show Less -

The objective of the Alto Solimoes Basic Services and Sustainable Development Project for Brazil is to: (i) raise incomes, (ii) increase access to potable water and... Show More + basic sanitation; and (iii) improve health outcomes. The extension is necessary to complete ongoing civil works in the Water Supply and Health components in the municipalities of Tabatinga, Benjamin-Constant, and Atalia do Norte, as well as ongoing community-based productive sub-projects in the nine municipalities of the Alto-Solimoes region. As of June 21, 2012, the project has disbursed US$19.27 million of International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) resources, i.e. 79 percent of the loan. All remaining resources are committed, mostly for ongoing civil works in the water supply component. Consequently, the Borrower's action plan to complete the project is to complete the civil works and the community-based sub-projects that are already underway. The Procurement and FM ratings for the Project are satisfactory. The Borrower also intends to request an additional financing to continue project activities and consolidate its achievements. The additional financing is currently being discussed in light of the Bank's current lending envelope for Brazil. This will be the first extension of the project. Show Less -

The Bahia State Integrated Project: Rural Poverty Project for Brazil will increase social and economic opportunities for the rural poor in Bahia by improving their access... Show More + to basic socioeconomic infrastructure, thus contributing to the Borrower's objective of increasing the Human Development Indicator (HDI). The changes will, at the borrower's request and in fulfillment of the project development objective: (i) allocate previously unallocated loan proceeds in the amount of US$ 675,000; and (ii) revise the description of category two to include goods. Show Less -