After a weekend meeting between negotiators from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Brazilian government officials, a deal is close to completion.

IMF deputy managing director Stanley Fischer said in Melbourne on Monday that the announcement would come "probably later this week".

Michel Camdessus believes the financial hurricane has not blown over yet

Brazil has moved closer to receiving international financial aid after pushing through crucial economic reforms.

Rescuing the Brazilian economy is seen by analysts as vital in preventing the turmoil that has affected Asia and Russian reaching Latin America.

If the Brazilian economy were to collapse it could plunge the world into a recession.

Brazil is likely to be given access to more than $30bn and possibly up to $50bn to help shore up its economy and protect its currency.

Mr Fischer said that the deal would include some of the terms of the new IMF contingency fund thrashed out by the G7 leading industrial nations last month.

The new fund is designed to give nations financial support to fend off an economic crises - such as those that have hit Russia and Asian nations - before it takes hold rather than after it happens.

Still a threat

Mr Fischer also said that Asian countries are finally now showing signs of hauling themselves out of a financial crisis.

However Michel Camdessus, the head of the IMF, warned last week that the global economic crisis is still a threat.

"Even if, in the past few weeks, an air of calm has begun to return to global markets, we could argue that the crisis in the functioning of the global financial system is not over yet," he said.

Mr Camdessus also praised Brazil and other Latin American states for moving swiftly to head off an Asian-style financial meltdown.

The IMF has been impressed by the Brazil government's far ranging austerity plan and its measures to shake up of its troubled pensions system.

On Monday, the government presented a revised version of its 1999 budget to include a hefty cut of 8.7bn reals ($7.3bn), which some observers say will mostly affect the poor.