GOVT TO INVITE IMF REPRESENTATIVES NEXT WEEK TO VISIT CROATIA IN JUNE

ZAGREB, May 12 (Hina) - The Croatian government will forward an invitation to representatives of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) next week to visit Croatia in June as part of preparations for a new stand-by arrangement. We assessed we could define all the answers IMF's experts had demanded of us, Deputy Premier Slavko Linic told reporters in Zagreb on Friday. Linic said the questions the Croatian government had to provide clear answers to referred to debts, the financing of new projects, the tax policy and the state budget, pension and health reforms, and the settling of the debt to pensioners. At yesterday's closed session, the government adopted a programme of activities in connection with preparations for the new stand-by arrangement with the IMF. The government in mid-March gave its consent to the commencement of Croatia's negotiations with the IMF on the signing of a new stand-by arrangement. In the wake of a visit to Zagreb between 29 March and 12 April, an IMF delegation said it might come back in June in view of concluding the negotiations. In the meantime, the Croatian government was to discuss several economic policy options within a programme which had been proposed. It is estimated the new Croatia-IMF stand-by arrangement could be signed at the end of June or in the first half of July, totalling some US$250 million. (hina) ha jn