Brazil's Finance Minister Guido Mantega speaks during a meeting of the Council for Economic and Social Development (CDES) at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia July 26, 2011. Brazil's government is ready to take any measures necessary to fight excessive currency gains, Mantega said on Monday. [Photo/Agencies]

RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega said Tuesday that the country's annual inflation target of 4.5 percent won't be exceeded.

"The inflation rate is under control, and the government will remain vigilant," he said, denying previous worries that the South American country's economy is overheating.

The inflation rate was 3.87 percent for the first half of the year, according to the minister.

Mantega said that Brazil, backed by its public sector and strong domestic market, is capable of dealing with the consequences of the international crisis.

The finance minister warned that the crisis that started in 2008 is unlikely to disappear in the next few years, but had entered a new phase.

"The crisis has entered a new phase: it stopped being private, a banking problem, to become a sovereign crisis," he said, adding that the world should not expect Europe to recover in the next few years.