Brasília – The Brazilian minister of Finance, Guido Mantega, stated that the financial crisis is left behind in Brazil, and that the country is in a process of “full fledged” recovery. According to him, the Brazilian economy is already growing at 4.5% to 5%. The information was supplied by BBC Brazil.
To Mantega, the success of Brazil contrasts with the obstacles faced by developed economies, which are starting to show signs of a “slow, difficult and gradual” recovery. He claimed that tomorrow (5th), at the G20 meeting in London, he is going to call for government intervention on the economy to be maintained until the global recovery is consolidated.
The minister said that he does not believe in the possibility of the world economy relapsing. According to him, the recovery will happen at different paces, showing that developed nations “are the most affected” and that they need emerging countries to drive growth.
“We are the ones who are going to generate growth. One or another European country might become offended or upset, but that will not prevent the G20 from becoming the most important institution in the world economy,” he asserted.
Mantega said that at tomorrow’s meeting, Brazil is also going to present a proposal for regulating the international financial system. “There has been no consolidation of a new architecture yet, one with clearer rules and boundaries for the action of speculative capital. Brazil already has such an architecture, and I am going to present a proposal for implementing it on an international scale.”
The minister also said that Brazil and other so-called emerging countries are going to call for the speeding up of the reform process of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Due to the group’s pressure, the year of the reform has been advanced from 2013 to 2011, but Mantega wants to make it clear that the percentage of quotas is going to come from developed countries.
“January 2011 is a good date, but I want to anticipate things. We propose that 7% of the shares currently held by wealthy countries be passed on to emerging ones, and that we have equality of shares,” he said. This, he added, would enable countries such as Brazil, India and China to pour more money into the fund. “We are aware of the fact that, even before this crisis, the BRICs [Brazil, Russia, India and China] and emerging nations were already driving growth. After this crisis, that will be even truer.”
To the minister, the strengthening of the G20 and weakening of the G8 – comprised of the world’s seven most industrialized countries plus Russia – is happening “spontaneously.” “I had never seen this many G20 meetings taking place. It already is the most important forum for the world economy, and representatives the most important countries in the world, with over 80% of the global GDP.”
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
