(Releads with comment from Croatia, Bulgaria, previous
SINGAPORE)
PRAGUE, July 10 (Reuters) - Croatia and Bulgaria denied a
report in a German daily on Friday that they were among at least
10 eastern Europe states in talks with the International
Monetary Fund over bailout loans for their ailing economies.
The report, which put the euro <EUR=> under pressure in
Asian trade on Friday, cited sources close to the IMF naming
Bulgaria, Croatia and Macedonia -- three countries seen as
potential candidates for aid but which have not publicly
requested any -- as those who had asked the IMF for help.
It also said Ukraine, Serbia, Romania, Belarus and Latvia
were hoping for an earlier payout or an increase of already
approved funding. They have all already secured multi-billion
euro loans from the Fund.
Handelsblatt said that Bulgaria's incoming government,
likely to be led by the centre-right GERB party, which won a
July 5 parliamentary election, planned to start talks soon with
the IMF about a standby credit line, citing local media.
In Sofia, the outgoing Socialist-led government and the GERB
party, both denied there were aid talks with the IMF.
"There are no talks with the IMF. Definitely," a Bulgarian
finance ministry spokeswoman said. "To have such talks (in the
time) between two governments would not be serious."
Biser Boev, tipped to become the next economy minister in
the new Bulgarian government yet to be formed, said GERB could
not start any IMF talks before taking office. He reiterated that
the next government will first slash spending and ask the IMF to
audit its budget revision. But it will wait on aid.
"Our intentions have not changed," Boev told Reuters.
On Croatia, Handelsblatt said that central bank governor
Zeljko Rohatinski believed it was increasingly likely that
Zagreb would need IMF support, after the central bank had pumped
5 billion euros into the economy.
Croatia's prime minister said this week he thought Zagreb
did not need help from the IMF, and Rohatinski has said budget
cuts would eliminate the need for a bailout. []
"As far as I know, there have been no such contacts,"
government spokesman Zlatko Mehun said when asked for a reaction
to the Handelsblatt report.
Croatia's online business site Bankamagazine also quoted IMF
press officer Angela Gaviria, as saying "Croatia has not asked
for help from the IMF".
A senior Macedonian official also said last month that the
country could approach the IMF, but would make such a decision
only later this year after taking account of its finances.
Handelsblatt said a majority of the Fund's top brass was
supporting the loans given the impact of the financial crisis on
those countries.
It also said Hungary's government, which took a bailout in
October, had not yet decided whether it needs additional funds.
"A decision on the requests will be made as soon as
possible," Handelsblatt quoted an unidentified source as saying,
adding that a decision on payouts is usually reached within a
week after the application.
The report hit the euro in early trade in Asia.
"Market players took the report as an excuse to further sell
the euro after seeing its sluggishness against the yen this
morning. But if asked whether the news was surprising, investors
would say no," said a senior trader at a big Japanese bank.
"Despite its fall, the euro is not expected to slide much
further as bids seen lined up below $1.39."
(Reporting by Jan Dahinten, Anna Mudeva, Zoran Radosavljevic,
Boris Groendahl and Michael Winfrey; Editing by Toby Chopra)
