An International Monetary Fund delegation to Bucharest announced its first forecasts on Romania’s inflation and current account deficit on Tuesday. IMF mission leader Emmanuel van der Mensbrugghe said that for 2006 IMF expects a 5.7% inflation rate and a current account deficit of 10.5% of the GDP.

As Romania hardly had a chance to hear from the IMF in its recent past, the IMF delegation insisted that the country’s economy evolved positively this year as it was reflected in the economic growth and the pace of inflation. Still, the delegation said there were worries related to a boost of the current account deficit above expectations.

The inflation rate expected by the IMF falls within the margin of the Romanian National Bank-BNR prediction: 5% +/- one percent. The BNR expects an inflation rate of 4% next year.

If salary boosts prove superior to those of 2006 and the budget deficit exceeds 2%, the IMF delegation expects an inflation rate of 6.5-7% next year.

It also said it did not expect the current account deficit to exceed 10.5% in 2006, but saw it growing to 13% next year.