BRASILIA -- President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed into law Wednesday a measure creating Brazil's first sovereign wealth fund, a move the government said is aimed at cushioning the country from the global financial crisis and providing support for Brazilian firms' foreign operations.

Lula also provisionally endowed the fund with 14.2 billion reais ($6.1 billion), though that figure could be amended by the Brazilian Congress.

While lawmakers last week approved the administration's proposal to establish the fund, they were unable to reach consensus on the size of the initial endowment.

The chairman of the governing Workers Party, Ricardo Berzoini, told reporters the president wants to stick to the $6.1 billion figure mandated in the bill he sent to Congress.

Lula's administration says the fund can be financed from the government's primary budget surplus, equal to 3.8 percent of Brazil's gross domestic product.

Officials say that if necessary, the government will tap the fund to ensure that its ambitious $250 billion infrastructure initiative remains on track.

The Brazilian government announced earlier this month a series of tax cuts with the goal of injecting close to $3.9 billion into the economy, spurring consumption and containing the threat posed by the international economic slump.

Another measure planned by the Lula administration - but which must by approved by the National Monetary Council - would allow the Central Bank to make use of the country's international reserves of roughly $206 billion to support Brazilian companies that borrowed money abroad.

Lula's administration has so far provided billions of dollars in liquidity to Brazilian banks to encourage lending.

Brazil's GDP grew 6.4 percent in the first three quarters of this year and both government and private forecasters are predicting continued growth in 2009, albeit at a much-reduced pace.