The managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Rodrigo de Rato, will be in Brazil on January 10 and 11 to officialize the pre-payment of Brazil’s debt with the IMF.
During his stay in the country, Rato will meet with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva; Minister of Finance, Antônio Palocci and the president of the Central Bank, Henrique Meirelles.
At the end of last year, Brazil announced it would anticipate paying off a US$ 15.5 billion debt with the IMF, thus saving some US$ 900 million in interest payments. The debt was to have been paid in installments running until December 2007.
In December, Lula declared that by paying off its IMF debt Brazil was demonstrating its independence. According to the Brazilian President the country was able to make the payment because its reserves have now risen to over US$ 60 billion.
Lula went on to say that Brazil is in charge of its own destiny ("dono de seu nariz" – owner of its own nose, as he put it) and capable of continued growth.
"We have money, exports, production and now we have shown that we can administer our own debt and move on as we grow more and create jobs," said the President.
In conclusion, Lula said that what Brazil needs is a decade of solid growth in order to achieve definitive stability.
ABr