Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva says that Brazil is climbing out, and feels strengthened, from the deep global financial crisis and underlined that "Brazil is now advising the International Monetary Fund, IMF."
"For a long time Brazil was an IMF debtor, and obeyed as a child orders from its technicians, but today we are telling the IMF what they have to do and not the other way around," said Lula in his weekly column "The President Answers" published in several Brazilian dailies.
The Brazilian president said that in spite of the serious economic crisis, Brazil can lend the IMF US$ 10 billion without harming "our level of international reserves."
"Our condition is that the funds are used to aid the economies of the poorest and developing countries. It's not only humanitarian. Today, no country is an island, no country can live exclusively by its own means," he added.
Lula pointed out that Brazil managed to resist in good conditions the global turbulences although admitting that "while the rest of the countries can't emerge from the crisis, we will not be entirely sure, because we depend on the good economic health of all countries to normalize levels of international trade."
However while other countries still confront the crisis, "we are climbing out strengthened in advantageous conditions, with greater negotiation power in diplomatic and commercial relations."
Mercopress