The offer of outside help could stop contagion spreading to Latin America, argues Pedro Malan, the finance minister.

ECONOMIST: Brazil

Why not pick someone like Pedro Malan, for example, one of the architects of Brazil's successful currency reform?

ECONOMIST: Wanted: firefighting figurehead | The

But this week Pedro Malan, the finance minister, insisted there would be no change in Brazil's exchange-rate regime.

ECONOMIST: Brazil: The real thing | The

Food companies are the latest target: Pedro Malan, the finance minister, has threatened to cut import barriers if food prices continue to rise.

ECONOMIST: A mild relapse in Brazil

To that end Pedro Malan, the Finance Minister, and Arminio Fraga, the new Central Bank chief, this week started a visit to Europe and New York.

ECONOMIST: Brazil and the IMF

Mr da Silva could, of course, have avoided all of this tension if he and other candidates had followed the advice of Pedro Malan, the current finance minister, who proposed a pre-campaign agreement on basic economic policies that would be maintained to prevent the type of attack that the real has suffered.

ECONOMIST: UNenforceable