President: Brazil fulfilling fiscal responsibilities

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff responded Thursday to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concern over the country's fiscal situation, saying Brazil was fulfilling its responsibilities. The IMF noted Brazil's competitiveness had eroded in recent months and downgraded the country's growth forecast from 4.25 percent to 3.5 percent. Rousseff said Brazil had made progress in several fields in the past few months, since the government announced measures in response to spontaneous anti-government protests in June. One of the government's pledges at the time, she said, was to ensure fiscal responsibilities. Finance Minister Guido Mantega also criticized the IMF report as incoherent and probably compiled by technical personnel not very familiar with Brazil's measures. Mantega said IMF chief economist Olivier Blanchard was much more in tune with the measures implemented in Brazil.