(Adds details from sources, background)
By Lisandra Paraguassu and Marcela Ayres
BRASILIA, Jan 25 (Reuters) - The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on Tuesday approved a plan for Brazil to start negotiations that will allow Latin America's largest economy to join the club of rich nations.
Two sources, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the start of the process would be confirmed later on Tuesday. One of the sources said Argentina, Peru, Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia had also been approved to begin talks to join the OECD. Another source said the average time to enter the Paris-based body at this point was three to five years.
The news was originally reported by Brazilian newspaper Valor.
The OECD declined to comment. Brazil's Economy Ministry was not immediately available for comment.
Brazil has been waiting for years to join the 38-nation forum for democratic countries with solid market economies. Chile, Mexico, Colombia and Costa Rica are the only countries in Latin America that have managed to join.
Brazil's accession process, begun in 2017, has stalled in part due to U.S. opposition to expanding the OECD to Eastern European nations, even as former President Donald Trump voiced support for Brazilian membership.
Last October, Brazilian Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said he hoped the United States would continue to support his country's bid to join the OECD.
Brazil has held out hope that joining the OECD would boost investor confidence as it battles high inflation and unemployment and the lingering impacts of the world's deadliest coronavirus outbreak outside the United States. (Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu and Marcela Ayres, Writing by Carolina Pulice Editing by Paul Simao)
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