Tanasescu: IMF seeks financial stability, not tax hikes

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) does not seek higher taxes and charges and the issue of increasing taxation in the period ahead is out of question, Romania's IMF representative Mihai Tanasescu said on Friday as the IMF mission headed by Jeffrey Franks entered the National Bank of Romania (BNR) offices for talks with the BNR officials.

Tanasescu voiced optimism about Romania's chances to receive the last tranche of its loan accord with the IMF and he stressed the figures related to the national economy development are good and even very good. He anticipated the Romanian economy this year will grow 1.5 percent ‘and maybe even more'.

Romania's future agreement with the IMF, a precautionary one, will focus on the restructuring of the loss-making state companies and on the financial stability consolidation, Tanasescu said.

Sources close to the talks had previously said the future accord could most likely be a two-year one and could be set for 3.6 billion euros.

Finance Minister Gheorghe Ialomitianu had said two days ago that the IMF mission had found the significant progress made by Romania as regards fiscal consolidation and curbed arrears.

One of the favourable results the minister presented and 'recognized' by the IMF, World Bank and European Commission mission is the fact that the fiscal deficit, instead of being 6.8 percent, was 6.5 percent at the end of last year and that arrears diminished to 250 million lei at the end of 2010.

IMF required the government to pay the debts to the FNI members

IMF required the government to pay out of the budget the debts CNVM was obliged by the court to pay the FNI members, according to some sources quoted by Mediafax. The government refused to accept the request at this point, saying that the institution is an independent authority and it must assume the payments.
« The government considered that, as the statute of independent structure blocked the cut of salaries for the CNVM employees, the same statute draws the obligations, such as the observance of the decisions of the court » the sources said.

Last autumn, together with Nicolae Popa, Ioana Maria Vlas and others included in the FNI file, the National Commission for Real Estate Assets (CNVM) was obliged by court decision to pay the debts to the 130,798 plaintiffs in the FNI file. The decision was motivated by the fact that CNVM is to blame for the fact that, between 1999 – 2000 allowed the FNI to function although it had not deposit.

The exact sum imposed to CNVM was not calculated as for each payment there should be taken into consideration the initial sum and then the inflation rate added. Official sources said, that in October 2010 the value of payment was estimated at 50 – 60 million euro, the equivalent of half of what the AVAS paid o the FNI plaintiffs over the last five years and much over the budget of the commission.

Source: http://www.actmedia.eu