Sebastian Vlădescu: The Romanian economy can not grow in a vacuum

• An economic growth of 1.3% is feasible, as long as the international markets remain stable

• Sebastian Vlădescu is optimistic: "If we look at the evolution of industrial manufacturing and exports, the Romanian economy is beginning to work again"

• IMF gives Romania a derogation on the issue of arrears

This year"s economic growth could be 1.3%, provided there are no turbulences on the international markets, Finance Minister Sebastian Vlădescu said yesterday.

According to him, the Romanian economy can not grow by itself, as it is follows the European trend, and it depends on its traditional trade partners.

The Ministry of Finance said: "Any number in the 1% range (ed. note: economic growth) can be taken into consideration. Romania"s economy can grow by 1.3%, if the international markets remain stable. We have to be careful with what happens around us. Romania will only be able to have solid growth when our trade partners, Europe in particular, exit the crisis".

Sebastian Vlădescu yesterday said that the "Romanian economy is beginning to bounce back, given the evolution of industrial output and of exports, which is further proof that the policies of the government and of the Central Bank are beginning to yield results". The Minister of Finance hopes capital inflows, which are vital for the recovery of the economy, will begin to increase again.

"The freeing of resources for investments in infrastructure, education and healthcare will allow Romania to increase its economic growth over the course of the following years, thanks to economic growth", said Vlădescu.

• Vlădescu: The additional letter of intent with the IMF and the EC sets several structural criteria and evaluations

Romania has signed an additional letter of intent with the IMF and the European Commission, a letter which sets several structural criteria and structural evaluations that Romania needs to abide by in 2010.

The Minister of Finance said: "The IMF said that Romania has fulfilled the requirements for the release of the new tranches, with the exception of the one concerning arrears, for which we received a derogation. We have signed an additional letter of intent with the IMF and the EC, which acknowledged that Romania honored its monetary and fiscal policy commitments in 2009, and which sets a number of structural criteria and benchmarks that Romania must meet in 2010, in particular when it comes to the first revision that will be done at the end of April".

The main structural criteria that concern the law of fiscal responsibility, the norms for the implementation of the Law of Unified Wages, the new regulations concerning the reform of the fiscal administration, the revisions of the Criminal Code of Law, the norms for mitigating the fiscal risks of the local authorities and measures which concern the Central Bank, banking legislation and the Fund for the Guarantee of Bank Deposits.

The quantitative criteria concern the general consolidated budget, the guarantee fund and arrears, and also include a target for the financial balance of the 10 largest state owned enterprises, as well as the current primary expenses of the general consolidated budget.

There are also additional provisions concerning the creation of a buffer funds to avoid seasonal financial shocks, steps to improve the fiscal management and the introduction of a fee which will be collected from hospital patients which is intended to cover arrears in the healthcare sector as well as to accelerate the reimbursement of arrears and completely eliminate them by the end of April 2011.