The year 2012 is the worst of the global economic crisis, according to Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega. "In terms of severity, what is happening in 2012 is worse than what happened in 2009," Mantega said Thursday in an address before officials, business leaders and representatives of civil society. Industrialised nations are stalling in the search for real solutions to the economic crisis, he said.
Such policies are affecting emerging economies, he said, "even the most dynamic such as India and China." Brazil, the world's sixth-largest economy, is according to Mantega in a slightly better position, since it relies less on external markets.