Thanks to the EU's integration, the debt crisis in Greece, Spain and Portugal hasn't spread to the rest of the bloc, a Brazilian economist said Friday.

There is a tendency that the problems challenging the three countries have been easing up, Lia Vals, coordinator of external sector studies at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, told Xinhua in an interview.

The massive aid package provided by the EU and the IMF have helped protect the most fragile EU countries by allowing them to take effective measures, Vals said.

The euro, once considered as a negative factor by the countries at the onset of the crisis, has played a positive role in facilitating EU integration, which, in turn, helped contain the debt crisis, he said.

It is unlikely that the European crisis will get worse as the eurozone is expected to register a 1.1-percent economic growth this year according to the IMF's latest estimate, said the economist.

He underscored the important contribution of emerging economies such as China to the global economic growth and the easing-up of EU debt crisis.

The continued growth of the Chinese economy has been a major factor for the world's economic stability and the momentum will be kept, Vals said.