A delegation of the International Monetary Fund arrives in Romania Wednesday, October 20, to review the country’s progress under a EUR 13 billion loan agreement and discuss a new agreement, an IMF official told Mediafax newswire. Tonny Lybek, the IMF's representative for Romania and Moldova (in picture, left), said the delegation will look at statistics and assess progress made since the last evaluation and decide on the steps to be further taken to ensure macroeconomic and financial stability and help the country go back to economic growth.

IMF officials will also have preliminary talks with Romanian authorities about continuing the current program and negotiations that will likely take place early next year.

Romania and the IMF last year signed a EUR 12.95 billion two-year standby agreement, as part of a larger EUR 19.95 billion package which includes funds from the EU, the World Bank and other foreign lenders. The current loan agreement ends in May 2011.  The IMF review mission will be in Romania until November 1.

Mediafax

(In picture, left to right: Tonny Lybek, Jeffrey Franks- the head of the IMF mission for Romania)