Global Downturn Will Not
Lead Brazil Into
Recession
RIO DE JANEIRO - The
global financial crisis
will not lead Brazil
into an economic
recession, Finance
Minister Guido Mantega
said Thursday.
At a public hearing held
by a Senate economic
committee, Mantega and
Brazil's Central Bank
President Henrique
Meirelles explained the
steps taken by the
government to tackle the
worldwide financial
downturn.
A strong economic
deceleration in the
developed countries is
inevitable, and "those
countries must take
measures to prevent a
recession as the Great
Depression in 1929,"
Mantega said, noting
that the economic
recession would not be
duplicated in Brazil.
"I believe there will be
a deceleration in
consumption and some
economic activities in
Brazil, but not a
recession," the minister
said, adding that
taxation was also likely
to decrease.
Though the worst part of
the crisis may already
be over, it is necessary
to pay the utmost
attention to the
economy, he said.
The government has no
immediate plans to make
budget cuts, he added.
He also commented on the
losses suffered by
several large Brazilian
companies that had
invested in financial
derivatives and
expressed his confidence
that they would recover
from the crisis.
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