Brazil Allows Currency to Float 　　The Brazilian central bank announced Friday that it would not intervene in the foreign exchange market before next week and allow Brazil's currency, the real, to float. 　　The central bank said it would announce a new foreign exchange policy next Monday, but gave no details. 　　The exchange rate plunged to 1.5 reals to the dollar after the central bank announced its decision on allowing the real to float. Later the currency steadied at 1.45 at midday Friday. 　　According to an official announcement, Brazilian Finance Minister Pedro Malan and the new central bank president Francisco Lopes will go to Washington Friday in a bid to seek support from the United States and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). 　　They will meet with the IMF director and officials from the US government to discuss an emergency aid package worth 41.5 billion dollars. 　　The measures taken by the Brazilian government has restored some confidence among investors and the stock markets in Brazil rebounded sharply. 　　 Economicnews 1999-01-17 Page2 Full Story in Chinese