MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Nobel Prize praises President Lula da Silva

The business environment in Brazil experienced an “enormous advance” since the beginning of the current Luis Inacio Lula da Silva administration said 2001 Economics Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz.

"President Lula re-established credibility, which has reflected in lower interest rates and a greater confidence and response from markets", indicated Mr. Stiglitz who is visiting Sao Paulo and together with his colleagues George Akelof and Michael Spence became world famous with "The general theory of markets with asymmetrical information".

Mr. Stiglitz added that Brazil's main challenge now is sustainable growth, which should be helped with the recovery symptoms of the US economy.

The Nobel Prize pointed out that the current adverse world economic activity is having great impact in emerging markets because "globalization has made the world economy ever so more dependent".

"We are actually facing the first globalized recession", which started in Europe, Japan and United States.

Mr. Stiglitz was particularly critical of the current George Bush administration economic policies, "particularly the budget deficit that is draining resources from the rest of the world".