Chile injects capital to state copper firm

SANTIAGO -- Chilean President Michelle Bachelet on Friday enacted a law to spur the output of the state copper firm with $4 billion.

The law, which was approved by both houses of parliament, will inject capital to Chile's National Copper Corporation (Codelco) from 2014 to 2018.

"We are making a historic effort to spur Codelco, the world leader in copper production, to strengthen its growth, productivity and efficiency," Bachelet said at Codelco's headquarters in Santiago.

The corporation also planned to invest more than $23 billion over the next five years to expand operations.

The added investment is expected to generate an average of 31,000 direct and indirect jobs every year through 2023.

"If we don't invest, Codelco's annual output would fall from 1.7 million tons today to approximately 700,000 tons," warned Bachelet.

"It would be tremendously irresponsible to have our arms crossed, watching how Codelco's global leadership eroded and how its profits, namely Chile's wages, fall," she added.

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