OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 43, 29 February 1996

HUNGARIAN FINANCE MINISTER OUTLINES REFORM PROGRAM. Peter Medgyessy has
said he wants to continue with the stabilization program of his
predecessor, Lajos Bokros, and will aim for larger economic growth,
Hungarian media reported on 29 February. Medgyessy was addressing the
parliamentary Economic Committee, which backed his ideas. Medgyessy said
there is a realistic chance of increasing economic growth from 1.5% of
GDP in 1995 to 4-5% in 1997. He added that reducing inflation from the
current 29% to 20%, as stipulated by the government, is his top
priority. Medgyessy also aims to reduce interest rates and reform the
pension and health insurance systems. -- Szilagyi Zsofia

ROMANIA RESUMES TREATY TALKS WITH NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES. Romanian
Foreign Ministry official Dumitru Ceausu and Vladimir Vasilenko, a
special envoy to Ukraine's Foreign Ministry, resumed bilateral treaty
talks in Bucharest on 27 February following a four-month break, Romanian
and international media reported. Negotiations on a Romania-Yugoslav
Federation basic treaty began in Belgrade the same day. The talks had
been postponed after the UN Security Council imposed sanctions on the
rump Yugoslav government. A new round of negotiations between Romania
and Hungary over Romanian President Ion Iliescu's "historic
reconciliation proposal" also began on 28 February in Bucharest. --
Matyas Szabo

[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Jan Cleave