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Talks Btw Romanian President, IMF Officials Focus On Healthcare Reforms, Short-Run Policies

Romanian President Traian Basescu Saturday met with International Monetary Fund, European Commission and World Bank representatives, who are in Bucharest to assess the country’s progress under an IMF-led international loan agreement.
Talks Btw Romanian President, IMF Officials Focus On Healthcare Reforms, Short-Run Policies
30 oct. 2010, 14:53,

The Presidency said in a press release Saturday that discussions held at the presidential palace in capital Bucharest focused on issues regarding a new IMF loan agreement, as well as on the need to urgently reform the country’s healthcare system and eliminate arrears in the sector.

According to the press release, talks also touched on Romania’s short-run set of policies, including those regarding the enhancement of EU fund absorption, to make sure the country will not exceed a 4.4% budget deficit target set for 2011.

Basescu highlighted Romania must correlate reforms with the EU 2020 Strategy.

IMF mission chief Jeffrey Franks said Friday evening Romania hasn’t met the end-September performance criteria in the sector of general government arrears and it will ask the IMF for a new waiver of non-observance.

Only in the healthcare sector, government arrears sum up 1 billion lei (EUR1=RON4.2664), despite the payment of RON2 billion made in September, people familiar with the matter said Friday.

End-June, Romanian government arrears stood at RON2 billion, double the half-year target agreed with the IMF. The country must bring its government arrears down to RON480 million by year-end and eliminate them altogether by the end of the IMF program in 2011.

The IMF mission will be in Bucharest until November 1 to assess the country’s progress under a EUR13 billion agreement signed last year and decide on the disbursement of new aid, worth EUR870 million. The IMF loan is part of a larger financial package that also includes funds from the European Commission, the World Bank and other international lenders.