Senior representatives of the Romanian government and the National Bank on Wednesday will start talks over the next assessment of the stand-by agreement with the IMF, the European Commission and World Bank.

The talks are being held in Brussels because the international lenders seek to avoid “the pressure generated by the presidential elections in Romania,” according to an IMF statement.

It is the first time that such talks take place outside Bucharest, and without the President, local political parties or unions attending them.

Prime Minister Victor Ponta on Tuesday said that Romania does not intend to conclude the agreement with the IMF ahead of schedule, namely before March 2015. “Bucharest has no plans to increase the budget deficit at the next rectification,” Ponta added.

A review of a precautionary agreement was indefinitely postponed in June, following alleged disagreements between Romanian government and IMF.

The centre-left government hoped to persuade the IMF to approve a set a measures aimed at creating more jobs and increasing incomes, by cutting the social security tax, CAS, by 5 per cent and by reducing VAT on meat, fruit and vegetables.

The IMF has not expressed an official viewpoint on these issues, but media reports say it is looks unfavourably on cuts to the CAS, as these will lower the government’s revenues.

Last month, the cut to the social security tax on employers was approved by the parliament.

Romania concluded its last deal with the IMF and the European Union worth 4 billion euro in July 2013.

The standby arrangement lasts for 24 months, and includes 2 billion euro from IMF and another 2 billion from Brussels. The government does not intend to draw on the money.

This is the third agreement that Romania has requested from the IMF since 2008, when the economic crisis kicked in.

The first package, completed in 2009, was worth 20 billion euro and helped Romania to push through tough austerity measures aimed at reducing its large deficit.

The second was signed two years later and was worth some 5 billion euro, of which 3.5 billion came from the IMF. The two-year loan was treated as precautionary and the authorities did not draw on it.

Despite the availability of money from international lenders, reforms in Romania have not progressed as quickly as envisaged.

The country is running late with planned privatisations and with the restructuring of several state-run companies.