EU Hopes To Wrap Up Review Mission To Romania In Jan, Urges For Continued Progress

The Commission said Romania has made "good" progress to reach the budgetary targets for 2009 and the economic measures for 2010 should be in line with the agreements reached together with the foreign partners. However, tight expenditure control remains essential, it added.

"The new government is encouraged, when it is in place, to rapidly endorse the draft budget and to submit it to Parliament for adoption," the Commission said in a statement at the end of a three-day visit to Romania.

According to the Commission, the measures agreed upon "at a technical level" could deliver a budget deficit of 5.9% of GDP next year, considering the "better-than-expected macroeconomic outlook for 2010."

"Regarding 2010, the mission and the authorities agreed at technical level set of fiscal consolidation measures amounting to about 2.5% of GDP, mostly on the expenditure side of the budget," the statement noted.

A joint technical team of the Commission and the International Monetary Fund staff visited Romania during December 14-16 to continue talks under a EUR20 billion multilateral loan package.

Romania has received so far around EUR7 billion from the IMF and EUR1.5 billion from the Commission. Both institutions delayed further disbursements amid political uncertainty in the country.

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