Investors and banks have been badly unnerved by the strength of two left-wing presidential candidates in elections this fall, both of whom have attacked Brazil's current policies that are intended to reduce inflation, balance the budget and expand free trade.
The $30 billion accord, which covers the next 15 months, comes on top of an existing $15 billion credit line from the I.M.F. to Brazil and permits Brazil's central bank to reduce the minimum level of its reserves by $10 billion.
The size of the package was nearly double what most Brazilian analysts had been predicting and requires the government to make almost no modification of its existing policies. But Brazil would not be able to use 80 percent of that money until 2003 -- after the elections this fall.