Romanian official: Government collapse doesn't affect IMF debt reduction plans
Associated Press
10/02/09 9:55 AM EDT
GOTEBORG, SWEDEN — The collapse of Romania's coalition government has not derailed plans to meet International Monetary Fund debt reduction targets, a senior finance official said Friday.
Ion Ghizdenau also said the collapse of the coalition government this week would not pose any problem to reduce a budget deficit of around 8 percent this year.
The IMF has told Romania to bring that down to 6 percent next year after it agreed to a $17.1 billion loan to help the country balance the books this year so it can keep paying public salaries and pensions
Ghizdenau says Romania plans to cut the budget deficit under an EU limit of 3 percent "in the next two to three years, by 2012."
He said the country still wants to stick to a 2014 target date to join the euro. Countries that want to join the 16-nation euro zone must meet strict standards on deficits and overall public debt that are designed to keep the currency stable.
