Press Release No. <a name="P16_75"></a>05/214

Mr. Rodrigo de Rato, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), issued the following statement today after a meeting with Iraq Finance Minister Ali Allawi and Iraq Central Bank Governor Sinan al-Shabibi:

"Today I met with Minister Allawi and Governor Al-Shabibi to discuss relations with the Fund in the period ahead. We had productive discussions, and a good exchange of views.

"As I noted earlier, we approved a post-conflict program for Iraq last autumn, and we are working with the Iraqi authorities to move toward a Stand-By Arrangement when the post-conflict program ends. I expect a staff mission will start negotiating a Stand-By Arrangement, which could be brought to the IMF's Executive Board for approval by the end of the year if recent progress with reform is maintained."