B. whereas during the period of application of MEDA I the payment-to-commitment ratio for the non-refundable aid segment was very low and, according to the MEDA annual report for 2000, the main reasons were the length of the negotiations, the multiannual nature of some operations, the limited administrative capacity of the MEDA countries and the complexity of the programme's procedures,

The Commission today unveiled a proposal for a Regulation on the medium-term financial assistance which can be granted by the European Community to Member States experiencing difficulties in their balance of payments on current or capital account.

Primary surpluses should remain at the high levels announced in the programme, through a tight control of current primary expenditure. The reduction in the ratio of current primary expenditure to GDP should be accompanied by a more comprehensive rationalisation of public spending, aimed at improving the supply-side conditions of the economy.

8. Calls on the ECB to publish macro-economic forecasts on a six-monthly basis which set out the prospects, and the risks attached to those prospects, for: domestic demand and its principal components, net exports, nominal and real gross domestic product, consumer price inflation, unemployment and the current account balance, together with such relevant data and research on which such forecasts are based, in order to permit a reliable assessment of monetary decisions, avoid market misinformation, ensure market transparency and hence counter speculation;

First, provision is made for current payments for current transactions to be subject to no restrictions.

Payments and capital: for trade in goods, each side stipulates that imports may be paid for in freely convertible currency.