Hungary has gained approval from the IMF and the EU for its current fiscal plans but may not need to call on further aid under its USD 25.1 billion rescue deal, officials said Nov. 16. "We think that currently the budget can be safely financed from the market and we want to compile our future financing plans in accordance with that," Finance Minister Peter Oszko told reporters. The IMF said, as part of its fourth review of Hungary's standby arrangement, that Hungary has achieved progress and is on the right fiscal track. "We have just assessed the progress versus our September review and all the targets were met," IMF Hungary Delegation Head James Morsink said at a joint press conference with the European Commission and Hungarian officials. The IMF-EU team said it backed the government's public deficit targets, penciled in at 3.9 percent of output in 2009 and 3.8 percent in 2010. (Reuters, Dow Jones)
