Brazil can contribute to solving the challenges of the global economy in the present and in the future, said today (14) the Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes in Washington. At the end of the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, the minister defended the functioning of multilateral institutions.
According to Guedes, food and energy insecurity is humanity’s main problem. For him, the moment demands that multilateral institutions put their role to the test, with Central Banks raising interest rates to fight inflation, the World Bank providing immediate aid to the most vulnerable and the IMF advocating fiscal and monetary adjustment.
According to the minister, Brazil fulfilled its duty during and after the pandemic. The country, which increased spending to help the vulnerable population at the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic, came out ahead of the rest of the world in monetary and fiscal adjustments at the moment, without delaying decisions.
The minister also highlighted the role of the United Nations in working for peace agreements, the World Trade Organization (WTO) in promoting free markets and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to disseminate global regulatory frameworks in the economy, politics and the environment.
Paulo Guedes also presented data related to the fall in inflation and analysts’ revisions on the growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Brazil. He said that inflation fell from 12.5% to 5.5% and stressed that the Brazilian economy should grow 3% this year, above the 2.8% estimate released by the IMF earlier this week.
Colombia and Chile
In the morning, Guedes had bilateral meetings. The meeting with the Minister of Finance of Colombia, José Antonio Ocampo, had as its themes the rules for electing the president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the transfer of technology. According to Guedes, the Colombian government has expressed interest in Pix and open finance. Afterwards, the minister met with the Minister of Finance of Chile, Mario Marcel Cullel.
Guedes also met with representatives of Itaú Unibanco; and with Eurasaia Group CEO Maziar Minovi finalizing his agenda at the IMF’s annual event.
Declaration
Yesterday (13), the group of countries led by Brazil at the IMF released a statement during the 106th Meeting of the IMF’s Development Committee. According to the document, the war in Ukraine unleashed a humanitarian disaster, exacerbating development challenges across the world, which is still recovering from the pandemic.
The message highlights that Brazil has almost US$ 200 billion in infrastructure investment commitments contracted for the next 10 years, with resources from the private sector, and that this stock of projects ensures sustained growth. It also cites the importance of Brazil to alleviate the food crisis due to the capacity for sustainable food production at scale.
The document was presented on behalf of Brazil and other countries associated with the Brazilian board of directors at the IMF
