Romania Q1 Budget Deficit Meets IMF Target - Fin Min

"The economy is not growing as anticipated, despite (positive) signs - the exports are rising and the industrial output has increased - but in general, the economy doesn't behave as expected," Vladescu told a business roundtable.

He said preliminary first-quarter data point to lower-than-predicted revenue to the budget, but the quarterly deficit met the target, "plus/minus 1%."

Romania's consolidated budget posted a deficit of 1.1% of the gross domestic product at the end of February, amounting to RON5.8 billion.

For 2010, Romania and the IMF agreed on a deficit target of RON31.9 billion.

Romania and the IMF signed last spring a EUR13 billion standby loan, as part of a EUR20 billion package that also includes funds from the European Commission, the World Bank and other international lenders.

Under the standby arrangement, Romania pledged to bring its budget deficit down to 5.9% of the gross domestic product in 2010, from a gap of 7.2% of GDP a year earlier.

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