STOCKHOLM, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff assured Sweden's prime minister on Monday that her country's purchase of 36 Gripen fighter jets will go ahead despite a currency plunge in recent months.
The Saab-made jets have gone up in price after the Brazilian Real lost 50 percent of its value against the Swedish Krona during 2015, but Rousseff said the country had no plans to pull out of the 39 billion SEK (4.7 billion U.S. dollars) deal originally agreed a year ago.
"The Gripen project is one of our most important projects," Rousseff said at a press conference during a state visit to Sweden, according to news agency TT.
"But it is not a project that in any way could hurt Brazil's finances," Rousseff said, adding that Sweden is an important partner to her country in terms of research and development within aviation.
Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven stressed that the deal will create at least 1,000 jobs in his country.
A bilateral agreement on social security to expedite trade between the two countries was also on the table during Rousseff's visit to Sweden. Rousseff said that 200 Swedish companies employ a total of 70,000 people in Brazil.
Rousseff said her country, which slipped into recession in August after two consecutive quarters of negative growth, could learn from Sweden's handling of the 2008 financial crisis.
"We have to do the same through a combination of savings and increased exports," Rousseff said of her country's predicament.
Lofven told reporters Sweden and Brazil would cooperate ahead of and during the upcoming climate negotiations in Paris, which start next month. (1 U.S. dollar = 8.3 SEK)
