Ms. Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), made the following statement today in Brasilia:

“It is a great pleasure to be in Brazil for my first visit as Managing Director of the IMF. I had the privilege to meet President Dilma Rousseff, and had very productive meetings with Finance Minister Guido Mantega and Central Bank President Alexandre Tombini.

“Brazil has had a remarkable trajectory over the last decade, combining economic stability, growth and significant progress in reducing poverty and inequality – even becoming an international benchmark in that area. In the process, the country has established itself as a leading actor on the global economic stage.

“The marked resilience of the Brazilian economy is the product of a strong track record of competent macroeconomic management based on the three pillars of fiscal responsibility, inflation targeting and flexible exchange rate. In the last few years, Brazil has also benefited from a solid and well-capitalized banking sector, which has so far softened the impact of one important channel of contagion from the global financial crisis.

“But that is not to say Brazil is immune to the crisis. In our highly interconnected world, nobody is. For Brazil, the challenge is now is to find the right balance between supporting growth and at the same time guiding inflation to converge to the central bank’s target. And do all that while at the same time protecting – and even expanding – its social spending and improving infrastructure.

“As the balance of economic power shifts, emerging economies are a key part of the solution to the global problems. Brazil consistently presents an important voice to the world on behalf of the interests of emerging and developing economies. This is a critical role. We welcome the Brazilian authorities’ willingness to consider contributing additional resources to the IMF. The country’s active involvement in governance reforms has been an instrumental force for positive change. This is a critical contribution to making the IMF more representative of the global reality, thus more legitimate and effective.”