Source: Dow Jones Newswires
Published: December 20, 2005
SAO PAULO -(Dow Jones)- Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Tuesday that Brazil's decision this month to make a huge payment to the International Monetary Fund signified "the end of colonization" for Latin America's biggest country.
Earlier this month, the government announced it would make a one-time payment of $15.5 billion to the IMF, eliminating virtually all of Brazil's obligations to the international organization.
"Brazil has come of age," Lula said during a televised speech at a hospital dedication in the Amazon region. "We are in charge of our own affairs now. The end of colonization has finally arrived."
Brazil's one-time payment will be the largest of its kind ever made by an IMF member country. Officials said the payment will be made before the end of the year. The money will come from Brazil's foreign reserves, which currently stand at approximately $67 billion.
The payment ends a series of agreements between Brazil and the IMF going back to 1998.
"The original debt (with the IMF) was contracted at time when the country was bankrupt. Since then, we have straightened out our course," Lula said.
