The Brazilian government on Tuesday announced a package of measures to help companies that have been affected by the devaluation of the U.S. dollar against the Brazilian real.

The announcement was made by Minister of Finance Guido Mantega, Minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade Miguel Jorge, and President of the National Bank of Social and Economic Development (BNDES), Luciano Coutinho.

According to Mantega, a certain increase in the value of real is "natural," but it is necessary to avoid "distortions" caused by an "excessive valuation."

The package includes the creation of credit lines amounting to 3 billion reais (1.55 billion U.S. dollars), of which 2 billion reais (1.03 billion U.S. dollars) will be provided by BNDES and the Workers' Support Fund (FAT) will provide the rest.

Mantega said that he had talked with Minister of Labor Carlos Lupi, who authorized the use of FAT to help those companies that "employ most workers in the country."

The credit lines will favor companies that make shoes, leather artifacts, textiles, clothes and furniture with maximum revenues of 300 million (154.6 million U.S. dollars) per year.

Other measures included the exemption of certain taxes to the companies harmed by the variation in the currency exchange rates. Authorities will extinguish the deadline for the taxation on the acquisition of capital goods, such as the equipment used in the construction of factories.

The Ministry of Finance estimates the measure will benefit 4,300 companies, which will be exempted from paying 600 million reais (309 million U.S. dollars) annually.

Mantega also announced that imports of clothes and shoes would be taxed on the unit of the product imported. That means, for instance, that the government will now levy taxes on the pair of trousers, and not on each kilogram of trousers.