IMF issues comprehensive assesment of Romanian economy after new agreement fails

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the authorities in Bucharest did not reach a new agreement on Monday. Following the talks, the IMF mission has issued a final declaration addressing major topics of the Romanian economy. AGERPRES reported the content of this document in several separate news; below is a comprehensive compilation.

Photo credit: (c) SILVIU MATEI / AGERPRES FLOW

The Romanian economy has largely corrected the internal and external imbalances through a mix of solid macroeconomic policies, but Romania remains vulnerable to external shocks, and fixing balance sheets has not been finalized yet, IMF experts say in their declaration.

In this context, the IMF recommends combining sustainable macroeconomic policies with measures to streamline public spending ? especially accelerating the uptake of EU funds for upgrading public infrastructure ? stepping up reforms dragging in the public enterprise sector and solving the outcome of the downturn in the financial sector.

The IMF says that the discussions with the Romanian authorities have been constructive, but a number of points have remained in suspension, and that it is why the mission will not end with an analysis on the international financial institution's Board.

'The teams have had constructive discussions with Romanian authorities on the fulfillment of the objectives of the EC and IMF's support programme, and have agreed on some key policies in this regard. Despite the significant progress made, a number of points have remained in suspension and discussions will continue next week at the institutions' head offices. The opinions voiced in this release are those of the IMF team and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF's Board. This mission will not...