Brazil's central bank has raised the amount that financial institutions can allocate to the financing of state-owned energy companies, Reuters reported.

A resolution published in the official gazette of Banco Central do Brasil said that lenders can now allocate up to 3.55 billion Brazilian reais in credit to power companies for investments linked to the electric power generation and transmission program. The limit was previously set at 2.5 billion reais.

The amount is in addition to the global value already authorized by the central bank for credit operations within the public sector, the report noted.

As of April 4, US$1 was equivalent to 3.12 Brazilian reais.