Brasília - The Minister of Finance, Antônio Palocci, will participate in the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (IBRD), in Washington (USA). The Minister's schedule includes encounters with the Managing Director of the IMF, Rodrigo de Rato y Figaredo, and the US Secretary of the Treasury, John Snow.

Palocci affirmed that, at the meeting tomorrow (October 1) with representatives of the IMF, the federal government will propose preventive agreements between the Fund and countries facing financial crises. "The Fund should give priority to preventive mechanisms to help the countries that need it the most," he said during a ceremony at the Planalto Palace at which a bill was signed creating incentives for the formalization of micro and small firms.

Regarding the Brazilian proposal for a change in the way the primary surplus target is calculated, in order to leave more room for investments in infrastructure, Palocci admitted the possibility that this topic will enter the agenda of debates.

Agência Brasil
Reporter: Ana Paula Marra
Translator: David Silberstein
09/30/2004