Lourenço Melo
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília - The International Monetary Fund's (IMF) director for Fiscal Matters, Teresa Ter-Minassian, praised the Brazilian government's social and infrastructure investment program intended to exclude these expenses from calculations of the primary surplus. In a note published on the sites of the IMF and the Ministry of Finance, Ter-Minassian pointed out that the country has discussed the pilot project in question with the IMF, the World Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank.

The note emphasizes the country's concern with the implementation of a rational and efficient investment program. The program foresees initial investments of US$ 1 billion in 2005 and an additional US$ 2 billion in 2006-2007, within the framework of a policy that takes into account the fiscal and macroeconomic sustainability of the projects.

According to Ter-Minassian, the IMF technical staff applauds the Brazilian government's plan to issue a report on the investments included in the pilot project and is disposed to continue cooperating with the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, as well as maintaining the dialogue with Brazilian government officials to develop new initiatives aimed at bolstering public investment in the country.

Translation: David Silberstein