WASHINGTON: CROATIA, IMF BEGIN TALKS ON NEW ARRANGEMENT

WASHINGTON, Sept 30 (Hina) - A Croatian delegation which attended a recently wrapped up conference of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank began talks in Washington on Monday with the IMF on a new stand-by arrangement. #L# Deputy Prime Minister Slavko Linic is participating in the talks. Croatia maintains that the current arrangement for 2001-2 has been realised successfully, and that a new one is required to continue with begun reforms and to achieve the goals of the government's economic programme. The government has not and does not intend to withdraw approved means but needs the stand-by arrangement as a reference for negotiations with other creditors and as a guarantee to investors that it will not give up on the set programme, Croatian sources said. An IMF Mission should arrive in Croatia on Oct. 24, while the IMF leaders should make the final decision as to the new arrangement in January. In its Aug. 12 report, the IMF stated that Croatia had made considerable progress over the past 30 months but that structural reforms called for further incentives. It is, therefore, expected that negotiations on the new stand-by arrangement will succeed and avoid the trappings of daily politics. (hina) ha sb