With the proximity of International Women’s Day – March 8 – the Chamber of Deputies approved, today (2), the first proposal of the year related to the date. Bill 1883/21 creates the Women’s Credit Program within the scope of official federal financial institutions and stipulates percentages for granting credit in existing projects, such as the National Support Program for Micro and Small Businesses – Pronampe.
The text now goes to the Senate. Among other points, the proposal foresees that at least 25% of Pronampe’s resources should be loaned to micro and small companies controlled and directed by women.
Within this reserve, a minimum percentage of resources will be allocated to low-income or disabled black women. Pronampe should have a plan to achieve equality in financing coverage according to the existing proportion of micro and small companies controlled and directed by women.
The program should be publicized by banks and the official means of communication of the Executive Branch and there should also be an active search for potential entrepreneurs, especially black women and women in conditions of social vulnerability.
inequalities
In the evaluation of the rapporteur, congresswoman Luisa Canziani (PSD-PR), the text contributes to reducing inequalities in Brazil, “especially in terms of gender and race”.
“We really must present measures to correct discrimination and the difficulties experienced by women in the credit market and in entrepreneurial activities”, she said.
During the vote on the matter, Canziani made an agreement with parliamentarians from the Liberal Party (PL) and included the setting of a minimum percentage of funding for businesses of low-income or disabled black women. Initially, the proposal prioritized only black women.
The request was made so that the text did not have an exclusively racial profile. Despite praising the general lines of the proposal, deputy Bia Kicis (PL-DF) defended that the financing cut should be only social. “I want to help all women entrepreneurs, whether they are white, black, Asian, indigenous,” she said. She was accompanied by Deputy Marcos Pollon (PL-MS). “We have to stop polarizing the country and dividing it into segments and start understanding that the soul has no color”, he opined.
Deputy Érika Kokay, on the other hand, countered the criticism. “When we analyze race here, we recognize that there is structural racism in the country”, she said. For her, the project makes official banks committed to female entrepreneurship.
* With information from the Chamber Agency
