By Nathan Gill

     Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) — Companies in Chile have delayed or canceled about a quarter of their planned investments, according to Chile’s Technological Development & Capital Goods Corp.

     About $17 billion of the $64 billion of planned investments in mining, real-estate, industrial, forestry and energy projects planned through 2012 were shelved because of lack of funding or lower demand, Orlando Castillo, director of the non-profit industrial-research group known as CBC, told reporters today in Santiago. A quarter of the 59 projects delayed or canceled were already under way, he said.

     “What companies are trying to do is increase demand,” said Castillo. “Banks play an important role in that they have to support the activation process so that this wheel begins turning in a direction that gets the economy moving.”

     Chile, the world’s biggest copper supplier, will expand 2 percent to 3 percent this year, the central bank said on Jan. 14. President Michelle Bachelet plans to tap sovereign savings and sell bonds to fund $4 billion in spending as the global credit crisis and slumping export demand stifle growth.