CROATIAN DELEGATION ATTENDING IMF, WORLD BANK ASSEMBLY IN DUBAI

DUBAI, Sept 20 (Hina) - A delegation of the Croatian Finance Ministry and the Croatian National Bank attending the annual assembly of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in Dubai on Saturday held a series of talks and meetings. #L# The delegation is headed by Minister Mato Crkvenac and the central bank's governor, Zeljko Rohatinski. During talks with Michael Deppler, IMF director for Europe, they agreed about a second review of Croatia's economic and fiscal policy as part of the realisation of the current stand-by arrangement with the IMF. In talks with Shige Katsu, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development vice president for Europe and Central Asia, Crkvenac and Rohatinski agreed on a new cooperation programme for the 2004-7 period aimed at resuming with reforms, raising competitiveness, completing privatisation, and cooperating in infrastructure projects. Talks about future cooperation were also held with Peter Woicke, executive director and vice president for the International Finance Corporation, and Motomichi Ikawa, executive vice president with the World Bank's Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency. (hina) ha