Brasília, March 5, 2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - In telephone conversations, yesterday (4), with French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva once again called for greater flexibility in the rules imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Brazil and other Latin American countries. During the conversations, which lasted around 25 minutes each, Lula requested that the French and German representatives in the IMF support two Brazilian proposals: 1.) that, in its calculations, the Fund not count as expenses the productive investments made by public enterprises in Latin America; and 2.) that the IMF create a type of insurance to protect Latin American countries from eventual crises that arise outside the region.

According to Presidential spokesman André Singer, the current accounting system adopted by the IMF for expenses in Latin America stifles initiatives in various sectors, especially in the area of infrastructure. According to Singer, President Lula considers economic growth the principal factor of peace in the region nowadays -- which also led him to ask Chirac and Schröder for their support. (DAS)