“If, from one reason or another, something happens and you are no longer in compliance with the schedule, and this is because of internal decisions, (...) then that assessment will not be finalized and this means that tranche will not be released,” Lybek said, adding that “IMF is helping a country help itself.”
He further said that, according to preliminary data, the government has met its budget deficit target set for mid-2009, but still has a long way to go, including in terms of raising the efficiency of tax collection and the prioritization of budget expenses, considering that revenues are below initial estimates.
According to Lybek, the IMF will modify the forecast regarding Romania’s economic decline in 2009, from the 4.1 percent level set in March, because, meanwhile, “the situation deteriorated.”
Romania borrowed in March as total of €19.95 billion for two years, of which €12.95 bln from the IMF, €5 bln from the European Commission, €1 bln from the World Bank, and €1 bln from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Bank, and International Finance Corporation (IFC).
