This web page provides information on the activities of the Office, views of the IMF staff, and the relations between Brazil and the IMF. Additional information can be found on Brazil and IMF country page, including official IMF reports and Executive Board documents in English that deal with Brazil.

Brazil and the IMF

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At a Glance

  • Current IMF membership: 189 countries
  • Brazil joined the Fund on January 14, 1946
  • Quota: SDR 11,042.0 million
  • The last Article IV Executive Board Consultation was on August 3, 2018 (Country Report 18/253 )

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Office Activities

  • Joint seminars with Casa das Garças and FGV School of Economics on the book Brazil: Boom, Bust and the Road to Recovery

    Antonio Spilimbergo (IMF Mission Chief for Brazil) and Krishna Srinivasan (Deputy Director at the IMF Western Hemisphere Department) presented a new IMF book overviewing Brazil’s recent economic history and recommended policies to sustain stable and inclusive growth. The book launch events took place at Casa das Garças, RJ and the FGV School of Economics in São Paulo.

    March 14, 2019

  • Making Public Investment in Brazil More Efficient

    On the occasion of the presentation of the Fund’s Public Investment Management Assessment report at the National Treasury, Teresa Curristine (Fiscal Affairs Department at the IMF) and Joana Pereira (IMF Resident Representative) blogged about steps to improve Brazil’s infrastructure efficiency and quality.

    December 21, 2018

  • IDB, World Bank and IMF organize a seminar on Brazil’s fiscal challenges

    At this joint seminar experts from Brazil discussed the fiscal challenges and possible solutions that the next government will face. At the occasion, Resident Representative Fabian Bornhorst presented the main findings of the IMF’s technical assistance in the area of public financial management reforms.

    November 29, 2017

  • Meeting with Labor Union Representatives from UGT

    The IMF met with Union Representatives in São Paolo to hear their views about the social security reform and their concerns about the recently approved labor reform.

    November 8, 2017

  • Making the Spending Rule Work

    Teresa Curristine (Fiscal Affairs Department at the IMF) and Resident Representative Fabian Bornhorst blogged (http://www.imf.org/external/np/blog/dialogo/100417.pdf) about how public financial management reforms can help embed the new spending rule into the budget process and strengthen medium term fiscal planning.

    October 4, 2017

IMF's Work on Brazil

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Regional Economic Outlook

Regional Economic Outlook for Latin America and the Caribbean: An Uneven Recovery; October 2018

Western Hemisphere

Latin America and the Caribbean: An Uneven Recovery
October 2018

Amid escalating trade tensions, tighter financial conditions, and volatile commodity markets, economic recovery in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has both moderated and become more uneven. The recovery has slowed in some of the region’s largest economies (Brazil and Mexico), even coming to a halt in the case of Argentina, as the impact of external headwinds has been amplified by country-specific vulnerabilities. In a similar vein, higher oil prices coupled with increased political uncertainty have dampened the near-term outlook in several economies in Central America. There is still no end in sight to the economic and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela. Meanwhile, better terms of trade over the past year and improvements in consumer and business confidence have provided a fillip to growth prospects in some Andean economies, and activity is recovering in the Caribbean, reflecting the uptick in tourism owing to robust US and global growth. Downside risks to economic prospects in LAC have risen and potential for upside surprises has receded. With major currencies registering sharp declines and debt levels remaining at relatively elevated levels in many economies in the region, the scope for near-term countercyclical policy support is generally limited. And with external financing needs being relatively high in some countries and capital flows ebbing, policymakers in the region should be prepared for further capital outflow pressures. In this regard, exchange rate flexibility will remain key, but foreign exchange market intervention could be appropriate under excessive volatility and market dislocation. Beyond the near term, countries should continue to focus on much-needed structural reforms to boost productive capacity and help anchor strong, durable, and inclusive growth over the medium term. Reforms should focus on increasing saving and investment rates, reducing misallocation of resources, making labor markets more flexible and reducing informality, liberalizing trade, improving the business climate, and continued strengthening of anti-corruption frameworks.

Read the report