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Romania To Cut Public Spending By 2.5% Of GDP In 2010 – IMF

The International Monetary Fund and the Romanian Finance Ministry agreed on measures to reduce the public expenditure by 2.5 percentage points of the gross domestic product next year, in order to reach a budget deficit target of 5.9% from the GDP, the fund said Thursday.
Romania To Cut Public Spending By 2.5% Of GDP In 2010 - IMF
17 dec. 2009, 12:41, English

„The IMF and the EC agreed with the government at the technical level on the content of the 2010 draft budget. To achieve a cash budget deficit of 5.9% of GDP, measures of 2.5 percentage points of GDP were agreed, mainly on the expenditure side,” said Jeffrey Franks, the IMF mission chief to Romania.

Franks added that the final budget would need to be consistent with the agreed parameters in order to move forward, while progress should be made in the coming weeks on key pending structural reforms, such as the pension reform and the fiscal responsibility law.

A joint technical team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Commission (EC) visited Bucharest from December 14 to 16 to continue work on the 2010 draft budget.

Early 2009, the IMF has lent Romania EUR13 billion as part of a larger bailout package which includes funds from the EU, the World Bank and other financial organizations to cushion the effects of a deepening recession.

Romania has received so far around EUR7 billion in two tranches from the IMF, and was scheduled to get another EUR1.5 billion by yearend. Under the loan agreement, a fourth disbursement is due in March 2010.