Romanian liberal MP Gheorghe Ialomitianu said on October 21 that the International Monetary Fund delegation has reported that a new agreement with Romania was not possible, whereas the Social Democrat MP Viorel Stefan denied such a claim, but admitted that Romania had three “obstacles” in signing a new deal with the IMF.

The IMF delegation met with the MPs from the Chamber of Deputies’ Budget Committee to present the final conclusions of its discussions with the Government.

IMF has expressed concern over the fiscal - budget situation in 2016-2017, as it carried the risk of exceeding the deficit targets, according to Ialomitianu, reports local Mediafax. The measures announced by the Ponta Government were not compatible with Romania’s commitments to the EU and IMF, he added.

According to the IMF estimation, the budget deficit would reach 3% in 2016, and would further grow to 4% in 2017, as the Government plans to increase most salaries in the public sector via a new law.

Romanian MP Viorel Stefan, who is also the president of the Budget Committee within the Chamber of Deputies, came up with a different analysis of the talks with the IMF. He is a member of the Social Democrat Party, the main party in the ruling coalition, which has proposed various measures which are now challenged by the IMF.

A new agreement with the IMF depended on the negotiations on the budget deficit, Stefan said. The Government needed to convince IMF that it was necessary to supplement the deficit, he added.

editor@romania-insider.com