IMF mission to visit Romania for first and second reviews of stand-by agreement

A mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will visit Bucharest between January 21 and February 5 for talks on the combined first and second reviews of the new stand-by agreement, which was approved in September last year, reads a statement of the fund. The mission will be headed by Andrea Schaechter and will take place jointly with teams from the European Commission and the World Bank. During the visit, the IMF mission will discuss with the Romanian authorities recent economic developments and priorities for economic reforms. “It will also discuss measures to compensate for the revenue shortfall from postponing the excise duty increase on fuel products by three months, so as to secure the budget’s deficit target of 2.2 percent of GDP,” said the Resident Representative of IMF in Romania and Bulgaria, Guillermo Tolosa. The IMF officials will also meet with representatives of political parties, trade unions, business associations, banks, and civil society organizations. The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved on September 27, 2013, a new stand-by arrangement (SBA) for Romania of EUR 1.98 billion. The new arrangement has a duration of two years and the Romanian authorities intend to treat the SBA as precautionary. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com