Eurasia Press & News
Fund says Bucharest must implement promised reforms to conclude a new agreement; mission to return after December elections.A joint delegation of the IMF and the European Commission concluded its visit to Bucharest on Wednesday, following talks with the authorities on macro-economic prospects and on progress towards achieving the fiscal targets set for 2012, the IMF announced.
The IMF team, headed by Erik de Vrijer, also approached Romania’s structural reforms and, in general, the budget for 2013.
An IMF mission will come to Bucharest to hold discussions on the next review of the program once a new government is in place following elections on December 9.
In discussions with President Traian Basescu, IMF representatives, the European Commission and World Bank said that Romania must fulfill its commitments to conclude a new agreement, as several structural reforms were not completed.
According to a release, President Traian Basescu told the experts that the most important goal was new measures to generate economic growth.
The IMF delegation stressed the importance of health care reforms, adding that the education system must offer better training to people to meet the demands of the labour market .
In September the IMF approved the sixth revision of the precautionary-type Agreement with Romania, following which it released a new tranche of 430 million SDR (Special Drawing Rights), equal to 519.2 million euro.
Following the release of the new installment, the resources available to Romania amount to SDR 2.64 billion (3.2 billion euro). The total value of the agreement is 3.6 billion euro.
