Brazil to invest $3.61b to urbanise its slums

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RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 4 (Xinhua): Brazil will invest 6.8 billion reals (3.61 billion US dollars) to urbanise "favelas," or slums, in Brazil's metropolitan regions, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said yesterday.
The federal government will appropriate 5.9 billion reals (3.14 billion US dollars), and the rest will be provided by state and city governments.
The fund is part of the programme for the acceleration of growth (PAC), which is expected to release a total of 504 billion reals (268 billion US dollars).
Some 106.3 billion reals (56.5 billion US dollars) will be used in housing projects, and 40 billion reals (21.3 billion US dollars) in sewage projects.
The first urbanisation and sanitation projects will target areas in the federal district of Brasilia and 12 other states in the country.