Disbursements by Brazilian state-owned bank Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social hit 38 billion reais in the first three quarters of 2019, down 13% from the same period of 2018.

For the 12 months through September, total disbursements reached 63.8 billion reais, little changed from the year-ago period, BNDES said. About half the funds disbursed in the first nine months of the year, 19.3 billion reais, went to micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises.

By industry group, the infrastructure segment received the most disbursements between January and September, with 17.36 billion reais or 45.6% of the total amount. Meanwhile, disbursements to the agriculture sector hit 10.2 billion reais, rising 9% year over year.

The bank's approval for new financing totaled 32.3 billion reais for the first nine months of the year, 35% lower from a year ago.

As of Oct. 23, US$1 was equivalent to 4.06 Brazilian reais.