PRIME MINISTER RACAN MEETS MEMBERS OF IMF MISSION

ZAGREB, July 31 (Hina) - Prime Minister Ivica Racan on Monday met members of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission, Gary O'Callaghan, Hans Flickenschild, Riccardo Maggi, Leo Bonata and Jaroslaw Wieczorek, who are on a visit to Croatia. Attending the meeting at Prime Minister Racan's side were Finance Minister Mato Crkvenac and Croatian National Bank Governor Zeljko Rohatinski. Today's meeting was the last one in this stage of negotiations and it is expected that cooperation will continue in autumn, the Government's Public Relations Office reported. The talks tackled the return of the state's debt to pensioners, salary policy, taxation system, investment stimulation, and deposits in banks which have gone bankrupt. Racan informed the IMF delegation about the reform in some sectors of economy, such as power production, railway, and shipbuilding industry, which will be defined in the next several months, as well as about the measures the government was taking in order to regulate the situation in the state portfolio. The IMF representatives thanked Racan and his associates for their assistance and cooperation during their visit to Croatia, during which they held a number of meetings and gained a good insight into the situation. They expressed their support to the government in resolving problems. (hina) rml