Stênio Ribeiro
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília - The secretary of Brazil's National Treasury, Carlos Kawall, said that Brazil's situation is comfortable when it comes to the country's international reserves deposited in the Central Bank (BC). Yesterday (4), the secretary attended a public hearing in the Congressional Joint Budget Commission to present a quarterly report for the period September/December, 2005. The report refers to the government's budget savings last year, when the primary surplus, which attained 4.88% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), surpassed the government's goal of 4.25%.

Kawall said that all countries have expenses to pay for their reserves, as well as insurance against eventual turmoils in the global economy. He also pointed out that the recomposition of the country's reserves is important for the country's chances of achieving an international investment level (country risk factor), which will make foreign investors more confident about investing in Brazil

Kawall told the congressmen that the cost/benefit ratio of restoring the reserves is worth the effort. "Our current situation is more comfortable than four years ago, when the reserves were scarce, and we had an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF)," he commented.

Translation: David Silberstein