Brazil's Finance Minister Guido Mantega reaffirmed on Wednesday that Brazil will not undergo a recession in the first quarter of 2009, but admitted a deceleration is in sight.

Brazil's GDP will be lower in the first quarter of this year compared to a year earlier, but it will be similar to that in the last quarter of 2008, Mantega said.

Although the country's development will be slower in the first half of the year, it will improve in the second half, the minister added.

"We will pursue maximum growth, which may be four percent (this year)," Mantega said, stressing that the maximum possible development this year depends on the government's efforts.

To fend off the impact of the global financial crisis, the Brazilian government has recently announced an increase of 142.1 billion reais (US$61.2 billion) in the budget of the Growth Acceleration Program, the government's largest social program, in 2009 and 2010.

Mantega said the government is discussing other countermeasures against the crisis, and may resort to the country's Sovereign Wealth Fund, if necessary, to help stimulate investments and minimize negative incoming impacts.

The Fund was established in late 2008 with an initial capital of 14.2 billion reais (US$6.12 billion).

(Xinhua News Agency February 5, 2009)