Adriana Franzin
Agência Brasil

Brasília – The managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Rodrigo de Rato, will be in Brazil on January 10 and 11 to officialize the pre-payment of Brazil's debt with the IMF. During his stay in the country, Rato will meet with president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, minister of Finance, Antônio Palocci, and the president of the Central Bank, Henrique Meirelles.

At the end of last year, Brazil announced it would anticipate paying off a US$15.5 billion debt with the IMF, thus economizing some US$900 million in interest payments. The debt was to have been paid in installments running until December 2007.

Translation: Allen Bennett