Rio De Janeiro, Dec 2 (IANS) Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff met International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde Thursday to discuss the ongoing eurozone debt crisis and its effects on the Brazilian economy.
The meeting took place in the capital city of Brasilia before Rousseff left for Venezuela to attend the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) summit scheduled for Friday and Saturday, reported Xinhua.
Lagarde said the Brazilian economy is solid, and the country is better protected than other countries against the effects of the euro crisis.
‘We believe Brazil is more well-protected than any other country from the effects of the contaminations and the consequences of the euro crisis,’ she said.
the IMF chief also praised Brazil’s macro-economic and monetary policies as well as its strong domestic market, while warning that the country is not immune to the crisis.
Lagarde later met Finance Minister Guido Mantega, who expressed the country’s willingness to collaborate with the IMF and revealed a plan to inject resources into the institution.
Mantega said the loan would be used to mitigate the effects of the eurozone debt crisis, though the amount has yet to be decided.
The minister noted, however, that the loan would be given on condition that the IMF continued to carry out structural reforms to allow more participation of emerging economies in the institution.
On Monday, Lagarde kicked off her first official trip to Latin America since taking office in June. Before Brazil, she visited Peru and Mexico.
