Brasília, 24 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The president of the Institute of Applied Economic Research (Ipea), Roberto Martins, says that Brazil's Human Development Index is higher than the UN says it is. "The UN Development Program (which conducts the index survey) is using outdated numbers on the situation in the country. With updated numbers that the Brazilian government has, the HDI would be 0.769," says Martins. The UNDP says it is 0.757.

UNDP representative in Brazil, José Carlos Libânio, explains that the HDI is calculated using statistics from international agencies and that there are differences between those numbers and numbers that governments use. According to Libânio, the data shows that Brazil is producing more riches, but that it is badly distributed. Brazil is third in the world in wealth concentration. (AB)