The Brazilian government said on Monday that the country had the tools and resources to face the international financial crisis.

The government is taking measures to guarantee the liquidity in the local market, Brazilian Treasury Minister Guido Mantega and Central Bank Governor Henrique Meirelles said in a joint statement.

Mantega said that the financial crisis, which has spread from the United States to Europe and some Asian countries, was the biggest of its kind since 1929.

"The greatest problem we are having in general is the loss of trust in finance institutions. That was reflected in the drops of stock market index and a stronger U.S. dollar against Brazil's local currency," Mantega said.

On Monday, the Bourse of Sao Paulo (Bovespa) in the country suspended trading twice as the main Bovespa index plunged more than 15 percent.

According to Mantega, the financial situation worsened because the "perished" assets from some world companies and banks are being revealed.

"We do not have these problems in Brazil, and there are no perished assets, although we are suffering a liquidity problem due to the constriction of the international credit. And the government is taking adequate measures to guarantee the liquidity," Mantega said.

Meirelles said Brazilian public banks started the selling of dollars in the local market with a promise to re-buy so as to increase liquidity.

He added that the move assures the currency flow in the market, acting like a loan operation without affecting the country's foreign reserves, which currently stand at 200 billion U.S. dollars.