Ariana, Incorporated, is considering a project that will result in initial aftertax cash savings of $$7$ million at the end of the first year, and these savings will grow at a rate of $3$ percent per year, indefinitely. The firm has a target debt$-$equity ratio of $\mathrm{.}69,$ a cost of equity of $13\mathrm{.}4$ percent, and an aftertax cost of debt of $6\mathrm{.}4$ percent. The cost$-$saving proposal is somewhat riskier than the usual project the firm undertakes; management uses the subjective approach and applies an adjustment factor of $+3$ percent to the cost of capital for such risky projects.

Calculate the required return for the project.

Note: Do not round intermediate calculations and enter your answer as a percent rounded to $2$ decimal places, e$.$g$.,32\mathrm{.}16.$

What is the maximum cost the company would be willing to pay for this project?