The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for Europe,Marek Belka, said he saw "good prospects" for Romania in the comingquarters and that the approval of the third tranche of theagreement should not be problematic, with the only issue being theapproval of the 2010 budget in Parliament, reports Mediafax newsagency.
He voiced confidence that Romania would receive the thirdtranche of the loan after the government approved an austeritybudget for 2010.
"Romania is an EU country, with an independent, solid centralbank. And I don't see any problems there. I see good prospects forRomania in the coming quarters," Belka said.
An IMF mission will come to Romania in January to evaluate theagreement.
"There should be no problems with the third tranche of the IMF'sloan. In January, the IMF will send its mission to Romania and willstart to negotiate the completion of the review. The only issue isthe parliament's approval of next year's budget, but I can't seeany problems here," Belka added.
The Romanian Parliament will meet on January 11th in anextraordinary session to debate the 2010 budget draft. Deputies andsenators want it adopted by January 15th.
Romania has agreed on a two-year loan with the IMF, for 12.95billion euros, with the total financing package, from the Fund, theEuropean Union, the World Bank, and the EBRD to reach 19.95 billioneuros.
So far Romania has received the first two tranches of the IMFloan, which amount to a total of 6.9 billion euros. The thirdtranche, worth 1.5 billion euros, was set to be granted in December2009, while the fourth one, amounting to around 820 million euros,was set for March of 2010.
An IMF mission was present in Bucharest for technical talks onthe 2010 budget, but the completion of the review, which isrequired before the third tranche can be granted, was put off untilJanuary.
The IMF expects and around 7% decline for the Romanian economyin 2009 and a 1.3% GDP growth in 2010.
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