IMF delegation to Bucharest: 7.3% deficit target might be met

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation meets with Romanian Central Bank (BNR) representatives and with a series of Romanian politicians in Bucharest on Monday, according to the IMF delegation chief Jeffrey Franks.

He declared on Tuesday, after discussions with the Romanian Finance Ministry, that Romania has a chance to meet the budget deficit target for which it had taken responsibility at the IMF, namely 7.3% of the GDP. There were doubts meeting the target in the beginning of November, according to Romanian press agency NewsIn.

„In November, we expressed out concern of seeing the target substantially excelled, but things look much better now and there are chances that the target is met”, Jeffrey Franks declared.

At the end of the November mission, Franks declared that the budget deficit is estimated to reach 7.8% of the GDP by the end of this year, taking into consideration the effects of the fiscal measures validated by the Constitutional Court.

The Government pledged a 7.3% of the GDP budget deficit by the end of 2009 to the IMF and the European Commission, and 5.9% in 2010, in respects to the 20 billion euros loan agreement. After the first 11 months, the budget deficit neared 6% of the GDP, according to the Finance Ministry preliminary data.