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Brazil's economy will not collapse

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-09-23 16:37

President of Brazil's Central Bank Henrique Meirelles said on Monday that Brazil's economy will not collapse though it is affected by the current international financial crisis.

"There is an impact, it is undeniable that the crisis affects everyone. The important thing is to be well enough to face it," Meirelles said at a meeting with businessmen in Sao Paulo.

However, Meirelles said that Brazil's foreign reserves have grown to current 208 billion US dollars from 16 billion dollars in 2003  while its debt has dropped 16 percent, adding that the country's economy has become much stronger.

Meirelles said the central bank is carefully monitoring the crisis, reaffirming the government's viewpoint that the country's economy is strong enough to deal with the crisis, which he compared to a flu.

"If a patient is too vulnerable and catches the flu, it can turn into pneumonia. But if he is resistant, it will only be a cold," he said.

Speaking highly of the decision of the US Federal Reserve Bank to inject 95 billion dollars in the US economy, he said it was a well-thought and bold decision, wishing it successful.

At the meeting, Meirelles also repeated his confidence in growth of Brazil's economy.

"Brazil used to go very well when the world was going well, and very bad when the world was bad. Now, with the world's economy going bad, we expect Brazil to go just well," said the bank president.