Brasília, 4/27/2004 (Agência Brasil) - Minister of Finance, Antonio Palocci, declared that in his opinion the annual joint International Monetary Fund-World Bank spring meeting was a success. However, Palocci did complain about the lack of progress in expanding the participation of developing nations in the two multilateral organizations, calling it a "deception." At the meeting, Palocci proposed the creation of a special credit line for "IMF preventive agreements" for country's going through financial crises.

According to a document released by the two multilateral institutions at the end of the meeting on Sunday, there has been an improvement in the world economy creating an opportunity to strengthen the growth process and make advances in poverty eradication programs, especially in African nations. The IMF and World Bank are predicting world growth of 4.6% this year, up from 4% last year. The forecast for Brazil is growth of 3.5%.

Translator: Allen Bennett