After criticism from Minister of Economy, IMF announces closure of office in Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A day after being criticized by Economy Minister Paulo Guedes for their wrong predictions, the IMF confirmed in a statement Thursday morning that it will close its office in Brazil. The Brasilia unit acts as a kind of “embassy” for the institution.

“The IMF has reached an agreement with the Brazilian authorities to close the IMF Representative Office in Brasilia by June 30, 2022,” the Fund said in a statement, noting that this is the date of the end of the mandate of the current representative of the Fund in the country.

On Wednesday, Guedes anticipated that the IMF mission in Brazil would be closed and said he had signed the document to end the international cooperation with the Fund.

– I’ll even be careful to say that we reject the IMF. They were here for a long time. You can go back now. They came here and predicted a 9.7% decline for Brazil, and England would drop 4%. But the truth was that we fell 4% and England fell 9.7%. We think it’s better if they make their predictions elsewhere – said Guedes.

The minister also said that many years ago, there would be no more need for the Fund to keep its representatives in Brazil and that they “stayed because they like feijoada, soccer games, good conversation, and, from time to time, criticize a little and make wrong predictions”.

The IMF said that the office was opened in 1999 when the country still relied on IMF loans for international liquidity.

“Although the IMF’s agreement with Brazil ended in 2005, the office was kept open to facilitate dialogue between Fund staff and the authorities.”

The note further indicates that it intends to maintain a good relationship with Brazil, despite Guedes’ criticism.

“We expect the high quality of Fund staff engagement with the Brazilian authorities to continue as we work closely to support Brazil in strengthening its economic policy and institutional settings,” the note concludes.

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