He said the size of the loan package has not been decided, this is one of the issues to be addressed in negotiations. He underlined the talks targeted a precautionary deal.

He said concrete dates will not be set as yet, as there should be no time confinement for talks.

He said Hungary arrived at a milestone, and that the government had succeeded in reaching its aim of restricting talks with the IMF/EU to economic issues.

As regards earlier unresolved questions concerning the Central Bank Act, Fellegi said the Hungarian government had held a clear position throughout and considered the issues at hand "matters of principle which it is ready to defend in court if necessary".

One of these issues is a salary cap which affects the central bank governor, but which the government insists was a part of an across-the-board salary cut at the central bank and at other public institutions.

The other is the central bank governor's oath. Regarding this matter Fellegi said it was natural for the National Bank of Hungary's head to take an oath on the constitution and this would not undermine its independence.

On the third question, the enlargement of the rate-setting Monetary Council and the appointment of a third deputy governor, Fellegi said the government still aimed at taking this step but would not address this issue until the mandate of the central bank leadership expires. Governor Andras Simor's mandate expires early in 2013.

The European Commission said earlier today that it would close the infringement procedure against Hungary concerning the central bank, paving the way for talks to begin on IMF/EU financial aid.

Source: kormany.hu