Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega on Wednesday summoned an urgent G-20 meeting to discuss the global financial crisis.
The meeting will be held Saturday at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) headquarters in Washington D.C., ahead of the IMF and World Bank annual meetings scheduled for next Monday.
Mantega will travel to the United States Wednesday to attend the meetings.
News reports said U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson would give a speech in the U.S. perspective on the global financial crisis during the G-20 meeting, and Brazilian Central Bank President Henrique Meirelles would be in Washington to meet with investors and participate in the G-20 meeting.
The proposal of the urgent meeting was put forward hours after the release of the worst economic forecast by the IMF in years. According to the forecast, Brazil's economic growth would fall to 5.2 percent in 2008 and 3.5 percent in 2009, from 5.4 percent in 2007.
The IMF predicted a 3.9 percent growth for the world economy in 2008, and 3 percent in 2009.
The G-20 currently has more than 20 members, including Egypt, South Africa and Tanzania from Africa, India, the Philippines and Thailand from Asia, and Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico from Latin America.