Romania looks good on paper so far, but IMF mission yet to review country's economic development

Romania's economic evolution as reflected in numbers looks good for the time being, but the International Monetary Fund is only at the beginning of its analysis on Romania, said Jeffrey Franks (in picture, right), head of the IMF mission for Romania. An IMF delegation is in Romania to review the country's economic development. Franks and his team started meetings at the Labor Ministry this morning. The Pensions Law and the Unitary Salary Law will be the main discussion topics for the IMF and the Labor Ministry representatives during this meeting. “We will discuss about the advantages of raising the minimum salary and the risks if the country did that,” said Franks. The sixth International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission tasked with the review of Romania's economic performances as per the provisions of the Stand-By Arrangement and of the Additional Letter of Intent arrived in Bucharest and will start talks with the Romanian authorities on Wednesday, October 20.The mission will end on November 1st. "The IMF mission due to arrive in the capital of Romania will discuss the draft budget with the Romanian authorities and the progress made as regards the commitments undertaken by the country's officials towards the international financial institutions that support the country's financial program. We will also discuss the subsequent measures that need to be taken to ensure macroeconomic and financial stability," Tonny Lybek (in picture, left), head of the IMF Office for Romania and Bulgaria told Agerpres two days ago. The situation of public arrears will also be analyzed during the talks in Bucharest, Lybek also said. Romania's representative to the IMF Mihai Tanasescu said in a public television broadcast that the authorities in Bucharest and the IMF representatives will have preliminary talks for a precautionary agreement. Romania has received so far EUR 11.27 billion out of a total of a EUR 13.15 billion loan agreement with the IMF, plus EUR 3.5 billion of the EUR 5 billion worth of loan arrangement with the EC and EUR 300 million from the World Bank. editor@romania-insider.com, Agerpres