Petrobras took loan due to 'temporary' problems -minister
BRASILIA/RIO DE JANEIRO Nov 27 (Reuters) - Brazil's state-run oil giant Petrobras took a loan from a state-owned bank due to "temporary" financial problems, the country's energy minister said on Thursday.
Petrobras (PETR4.SA) (PBR.N) borrowed 2 billion reais ($877.6 million) from Caixa Economica Federal in October, raising questions about the company's financial health.
This month Petrobras posted a record third-quarter net profit.
Congress ordered the chief executives of Petrobras and Caixa, respectively, to explain the loan at a public hearing. Opposition legislators wanted to know why Petrobras needed a loan and why it used a state bank instead of a private bank.
Energy Minister Edison Lobao said unexpected one-time costs had forced Petrobras to seek the loan.
"It had temporary difficulties due to unforeseen taxes," Lobao told reporters in Brasilia.
The poor financial performance of state companies in October caused a lower-than-expected consolidated primary budget surplus for the month. Petrobras had grappled with costly investments, as well as royalty and tax payments in the period, a central bank official had said.
Petrobras Finance Director Almir Barbassa said Petrobras had chosen to borrow from the state-owned bank because it offered the best conditions at the time.
"The Brazilian financial system is much healthier than the international one," he told Reuters.
Petrobras shares fell 1.8 percent to 20.15 reais on Thursday. The stock has fallen more than 50 percent this year as oil prices CLc1 have shed more 40 percent.
"Petrobras didn't give a lot of information about the loan," said Vladimir Pinto, analyst at Unibanco. "It's an uncertainty that could (hurt its share price)."
Fears that a recession in major economies will hurt demand for metals and oil have hit commodity stocks, which make up a large share of Brazil's main stock index, the Bovespa .BVSP.
Petrobras discovered major oil reserves in 2007, a find that could turn the Latin American country into a major oil producer.
($1=2.279)
(Reporting by Fernando Exman and Denise Luna; Writing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa; Editing by Dan Grebler)
