Edla Lula
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília - The new minister of Finance, Guido Mantega, declared: "There should be no concern whatsoever regarding fiscal policy. We are committed to rigorously pursuing primary surplus targets. I personally am fully committed to achieving that goal."

Speaking to journalists, Mantega said that in his first year in the Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva administration, as minister of Planning, he embargoed some US$6.2 billion in government spending. "I have practical experience in cutting expenditures. There should be no concern about this." Mantega went on to say he sees reducing government spending as the way to ease interest rates down further and ensure that there is a primary surplus.

Translation: Allen Bennett