Brazil under-invested in infrastructure for over three decades, and infrastructure investment rates have come up only slowly since 2007. Infrastructure needs are sizeable in almost all sectors. It is likely that at its current stage of development the country will benefit from large pay-offs from infrastructure spending. Against this background, the Brazilian authorities have put in place a large infrastructure plan named Growth Acceleration Programme (Programa de aceleração do crescimento, PAC). This programme has been rightly protected from the fiscal cuts announced in early 2011. Nevertheless, some changes to the policy and regulatory framework could be introduced to make public investment more cost-efficient and to foster private participation. In particular: * The second stage of PAC needs to focus on completing the most worthwhile programmes. In addition, the public-private partnership framework should be streamlined. * In most areas, the regulatory framework is working well, but sectors are at different stages of development. Despite important institutional changes in recent years, policy capture is sometimes still influencing some federal and many state regulatory agency decisions. * In spite of some recent progress, frequent disputes appear to delay some infrastructure projects, especially in the energy sector. The main challenge in this area is to hasten the licensing process, while continuing to put appropriate emphasis on environmental and social protection. * Reforms have been implemented in individual network industries, but there is still some room to inject competition in fixed-line telecommunications and to prevent product cross-subsidisation in the electricity sector. Concession contracts in both roads and rail could be refined to foster private investment in maintenance and network expansion. In water and sanitation, where investments are the most needed, smaller municipalities should be encouraged to invest and form consortia to reap economies of scale. This Working Paper relates to the 2011 OECD Economic Review of Brazil 2011 (www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/Brazil). Promouvoir le développement des infrastructures au Brésil Le Brésil a peu investi en infrastructure ces trente dernières années, et les dépenses d'équipement dans ce domaine n'augmentent que lentement depuis 2007. Les besoins sont considérables dans presque tous les secteurs. Au stade actuel de son développement, le pays a sans doute tout in...

Promoting Infrastructure Development in Brazil