Ana Paula Marra and Nelson Motta
Reporters - Agência Brasil

Brasília - In his first press conference as the future minister of Finance, the president of the Brazilian Development Bank (Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social) (BNDES), Guido Mantega, announced that he will maintain the present economic policies of the Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva government as they have been conducted by former minister Antonio Palocci.

"Economic policy will not change, and the reason is because it is not minister Palocci's policy, or minister Rousseff's policy (she is the Presidential Chief of Staff), or any minister's. It is the economic policy of president Lula. The government's economic policies are undersigned by the president, no one else," declared the new minister.

Mantega went on to say that present economic policies have been the most successful in the last 15 or 20 years, opening the door to a new cycle of development. "This is the first time in a long time that Brazil has been able to put together so many favorable conditions for growth. And that fact is due to the economic policies that have been in effect over the last three years," said Mantega.

Translation: Allen Bennett