Brasília, April 29, 2004 (Agência Brasil) - The president of the Brazilian Central Bank, Henrique Meirelles, disclosed today that the institution obtained a positive balance of US$ 2.36 billion (R$ 7 billion) in the second half of 2003, as a result of the correctness of the monetary policies adopted last year. This, according to Meirelles, despite the 0.2% negative growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2003. He made this affirmation during a public hearing before the National Congress's Joint Commission on Plans, Government Budgets, and Oversight.

Meirelles provided an ample explanation of monetary, credit, and exchange policy and reaffirmed that the government's economic team did its "homework" with great success. For this reason, he said, "Brazil is viewing the world with more serenity," since it possesses solid foundations that awoke the confidence of entrepreneurs, who resumed their investments beginning in the third quarter of last year, as demonstrated by the indicators of industrial growth.

Translator: David Silberstein