Brazil sets 10 bln real ship building credit line

Tue Oct 7, 2008 12:25pm EDT
(Repeats, adds word "real" to headline)
ANGRA DOS REIS, Oct 7 (Reuters) - The Brazilian government will throw its emerging ship-building industry a 10 billion real line of credit to weather the global financial turmoil that has limited credit, government Chief of Staff Dilma Rousseff said on Tuesday.
Ship building has been one of the favored industries of the administration, which passed a national content law requiring oil companies like state-run Petrobras (PETR4.SA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)(PBR.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) to use more locally built ships and production platforms.
"At this moment of tight credit, making 10 billion reais available is something strategic for this industry," said Rousseff.
Brazil is expected to invest heavily in the coming decades to develop the recently discovered subsalt oil and gas fields off the southeast coast, that could contain more than 50 billion barrels of light oil and natural gas.
($1=2.232 reais)
(Reporting by Denise Luna and Rodgirgo Viga Gaier; Writing by Reese Ewing; Editing by David Gregorio)