FinMin says new agreement with IMF, not considered, nor ruled out

The Government doesn't take into account, but is not ruling out either a new agreement with the International Monetary Fund, according to Romanian Finance Minister Sebastian Vladescu (in picture). The Romanian Government will analyze the need for a new agreement, hence a new round of financing from the IMF, at the end of this year, he also said. “The need for a new agreement, in my opinion, will be analyzed probably to a certain extent towards the end of this year, but it will become subject to discussions next year, when we will know the more precise economic parameters for 2011 and the evolution in 2010,” said Vladescu. The Finance Ministry is currently working on a project which includes the possibility to change property taxes, but this could be applied only after political agreement is reached. The ministry expects an economic decrease of 1.9 percent for this year and an economic increase between 1.5 and 2 percent for next year. Next year's budget deficit is expected to stay at 4.4 percent of the GDP and a current account deficit of 5 percent.