2010 deficit amounts to only 6.6% of GDP

The Government sent to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) a letter saying Romania had met all conditions to get a new tranche of the loan, having ended 2010 with a deficit of 6.6% of GDP, with 1.27 million public sector employees and with the arrears below the agreed cap.

The degree to which the IMF's conditions have been met ahead of the board meeting scheduled for the end of this week, was discussed yesterday at the Government HQ by Premier Emil Boc and Finance Minister Gheorghe Ialomiţianu.

"The preliminary budget deficit for the whole of 2010 was around 6.58% of GDP, below the cap agreed with the IMF, and could have fallen to 6.4% if some of the arrears had not been paid," official sources said.

For 2010, the Government committed to keep the budget deficit under 6.8% of GDP and cut it to 4.4% of GDP in 2011. The Gross Domestic Product was estimated at 511.58 billion RON last year.

At the end of last year, the number of employees in the public sector was set to fall to 1.29 million people, according to arrangements with the IMF.

The Finance Minister said the Government had also fulfilled the requirements regarding the arrears for 2010.