Hamza: We have successfully met the performance criteria

Head of IMF mission, Johannes Wiegand said that the mission has reached agreement in the staff level with the authorities, for a policy package that aims the ending of the first revision of the "stand-by" agreement.

He said they already have completed the letter of good intention and shall send it to the management and executive board and expect that this letter will be approved by mid of July, and the ending of this review, will enable Kosovo to draw about 46 million euros. According to him, the authorities plan to submit the funds of this support in the Special Reserve Fund administered by the Central Bank.

Wiegent also said that macroeconomic policies in Kosovo are on proper track and that Kosovo's economy continues to be stable. According to him, Kosovo has not been greatly influenced by the European crisis, due to limited access.

"We have completed the letter of intent and will send it to the management and executive board and we expect that this letter of intent to be approved by mid of July. First fund of 46 million will be paid into the bank account of the Government. Government's macroeconomic policies are on the track. All prior actions and structural criteria are met. Kosovo's economy continues to be stable. We have not revised the economic growth, it has remained at 3.8 percent. Capital expenditures and other revenues are financing the deficit and Kosovo has not been greatly influenced by the European crisis, due to limited access. We continue to support maintaining and bank balance and strengthening of structural policy measures. These are the best measures for Kosovo in the next period,” he said.

While Finance Minister Bedri Hamza, thanked the staff of the IMF for their intensive and professional work. He said it is a part of first reviewing of the "stand-by" agreement and that during these days with the IMF representatives have discussed all the elements that have been performance and structural criteria that had to be met by this time.

"We have achieved the performance criteria including the level of primary balance, spending level and all other criteria, dealing with this issue, to meet successful, as well as other criteria that have been part of this agreement. I can say that in general these criteria are met. We have modified and modeled the solutions for certain issues that have been part of the deal. It was also discussed about the six-month review that is expected to proceed in the Government in this week. It was also discussed about the budget of the year 2013. So far the flow and macro-fiscal indicators are stable. We have a satisfactory trend of revenue and expect that by the end of the year to meet the revenue plan. We have a better budget execution than the same period of the last year and previous years, "said Hamza.