( Financial Times ) -- Brazil 's president Dilma Rousseff has launched a R $ 133bn ( $ 65.6bn ) stimulus package to spur investment in the country 's creaking infrastructure and shore up ailing investor confidence in the world 's second-largest emerging market economy . In the first of what are expected to be a series of announcements in the coming weeks , Ms Rousseff said the government would sell concessions in nine highways and 12 railways before moving onto other areas of infrastructure . `` We are starting with railways and roads but obviously we will take care of airports , ports and waterways , '' Ms Rousseff told a gathering of politicians and leading businessmen in BrasÃ­lia . Brazil 's economy has slowed to a crawl over the past 12 months as inadequate infrastructure including roads and ports and a shortage of skilled labour has raised costs and stifled industry . The economy expanded 7.5 per cent in 2010 , the fastest pace in more than two decades , but last year slowed to 2.7 per cent and this year is expected to grow 2 per cent or less . Among the initiatives , the government will sell rights for private companies to operate 7,500km of roads and 10,000km of railways . The measures would double the capacity of the country 's main highways , transport minister Paulo Passos said at the event . Of the total investment , R $ 79.5bn would be spent within five years and the remainder over 25 years . Funding would be largely at favourable terms from the state development bank , BNDES . Bret Rosen , senior credit strategist for Latin America at Standard Chartered , said the move was a step in the right direction , with infrastructure bottlenecks posing one of the biggest obstacles to faster growth in Brazil . But he added : `` The easy thing is making the announcements , the harder thing is execution , and the track record not just of Brazil but of Latin American countries in general is pretty poor on infrastructure . '' The cost of exporting a container from Brazil is more than double that of China and 1.5 times that of India while the country 's ports are notorious for delays . But other analysts hailed it as the start of a new era for Brazil . `` With a government willing to make politically difficult decisions ... this downturn may end up being a boon for Brazil in its quest for global economic status , '' Stratfor , the political intelligence agency , said . The centre-left coalition government led by Ms Rousseff 's Workers ' party has traditionally been opposed to privatizations . But she has proven pragmatic in the face of infrastructure bottlenecks . Earlier this year , her government awarded projects to redevelop and operate three major airports to private sector-led consortia in a bid to speed up preparations for the soccer World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics two years later . `` Since last Sunday , we have been an 'Olympic country ' , '' Ms Rousseff said on Wednesday . `` We are in a countdown to the games in 2016 . '' Economists warned , however , that the infrastructure measures announced on Wednesday would have little short-term impact on the economy . `` This is a plus for the long-term but it does n't improve the growth prospects in the short-term , '' said David Beker , Brazil economist with Bank of America Merrill Lynch . © The Financial Times Limited 2012 .
Brazil 's president Dilma Rousseff has launched a R $ 133bn ( $ 65.6bn ) stimulus package . Aims to spur investment in the country 's creaking infrastructure and shore up investor confidence .