After reviewing the year 2008, Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva stated that the year has been good, but not great for Brazilians, and that during the period the country has grown "economically" and "strongly."
He said that by January 20 he is going to introduce new proposals for encouraging economic growth, and that the government "is not going to sit around waiting" for the "vicious effects" of the crisis to damage the country.
In his weekly radio show "Breakfast with the President," Lula called attention to the fact that almost 2.2 million jobs were created up until October, which, according to him, generated greater revenues and enabled the expansion of trade.
"This means that Brazil had a good year. I am not going to say that it has been great, but it has been a good year. Only in the last quarter did we have problems – already a result of the world crisis – mainly due to lack of international credit."
The president said once again that, despite the international financial crisis, which he described as "the worst in post-industrial history," Brazil is better prepared to face the effects of instability at Stock Exchanges.
"We possess reserves, we have a strong domestic market. The entire government is prepared so that, in early 2009, we may start carrying out consistent work, counting on all the help we may need, so that the economy may continue to grow," he stated.
"I am convinced that Brazil should look at the crisis as an opportunity for us to do the things that we have not done yet, so that we may prove that the dynamism of the Brazilian domestic market is going to allow for our economy to continue growing.
"Whereas some countries in the world are in recession, Brazil might grow a bit less than previously forecasted, but it will keep on growing and generating jobs," the president concluded.
ABr
