BUDAPEST -(Dow Jones)- The International Monetary Fund completed its fifth review in Hungary, and made $1.1 billion available, the IMF said in a statement Thursday.
The statement modified its earlier release Wednesday, which said that Hungary could use $3.2 billion, the IMF told Dow Jones Newswires in Washington.
Hungary, which was hit hard by the global financial crisis at the end of 2008, was the first European Union member to receive a standby loan from the IMF.
Hungary has made progress by prudent fiscal policies that have helped strengthen investor confidence, the IMF said, adding that this could also contribute to a further cut in the key rate from the current 5.75%.
"Monetary policy should continue to ease gradually and cautiously, to the extent allowed by financial market conditions," John Lipsky, first deputy managing director and acting chair, was quoted as saying in the statement.
Web site: www.imf.org
veronika.gulyas@dowjones.com
(Riva Froymovich in the U.S. contributed to this article.)
Copyright 2009 Dow Jones Newswires
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