The Brazilian government will buy $10 billion of bonds from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help the institution provide financing to countries deeply affected by the international financial crisis. Brazil will become a creditor for the Washington-based lending institution for the first time.

Finance Minister Guido Mantega said Brazil will use a portion of its foreign reserves to buy bonds issued by IMF.

“Most of our reserves are invested in U.S. Treasuries, which are yielding very little,” said Mantega. “All these investments are giving poor returns.”

He explained that the decision is not meant to weaken the dollar, but added that there should be other currencies besides the dollar for international transactions.“This is an investment that Brazil is doing with part of its reserves and making available financing so that the IMF may help emerging countries, especially developing countries which today face a shortage of capital because of the global financial crisis,” explained Mantega.