Stanley Fischer, the IMF's chief economist, is to meet with Finance Minister Pedro Malan on Tuesday. The talks could expedite release of the second installment of a $41.5 billion aid package.

In December, Brazil received $9 billion from the IMF and used it to bolster its sagging currency reserves, now at $36 billion — down from $74 billion last July. A second installment might help restore investors' confidence.

But first the two sides must agree on how to stabilize the real, which has plunged since the government devalued the currency on Jan. 13 and then let it float freely.

The real traded at 1.98 to the dollar at midday, up from 2.06 at Friday's close. The currency has lost 39 percent of its value since the devaluations began.

Panic gripped the markets Friday and Brazilians scurried to withdraw their savings after it was rumored that the government would freeze bank deposits. Such a freeze was imposed in the early 1990s, leaving many unable to pay their bills.

Malan went on television and gave his "word of honor" that savings wouldn't be touched. "There is no possibility whatever that the government would commit any such violence," he said.

President Fernando Henrique Cardoso attributed Friday's panic to speculators in the futures market who profit when the real falls. Currency dealers confirmed that some banks were pushing the real down.

Brazilians and the IMF have diverged on the best way to control inflation real. After reaching 2,700 percent in 1993, inflation plunged to near zero last year but now threatens to return.

The IMF favors a sharp rise in interest rates to restrict the amount of money in circulation and avert speculation. But high interest rates will worsen the recession and the government's own spending deficit.

An IMF team arrived in Brasilia over the weekend to review the terms of the aid package. Published reports said the Washington-based fund would likely urge Brazil to make deeper cuts in spending to reduce its budget deficit.