Talking to Prime Minister Ivan Kostov, Juha Kahkonen, International Monetary Fund Mission Leader for Bulgaria, said he is well impressed by the state of the Bulgarian economy and its prospects. The IMF mission, led by Kahkonen, arrived here on June 16 to review the implementation of Bulgaria's three-year agreement with the international financial institution. There will be a deficit in the balance of payments current account this year too, but it will be smaller than the 1999 one, Kahkonen said. Concerning the Bulgarian national budget, Kahkonen said the IMF and the Bulgarian Government have similar positions both on the execution of last year's budget and the parameters of the next one. In his opinion, it is possible to allocate funds for additional spending this year and probably to reduce taxes in 2001. However, he did not commit himself to any specific tax reduction figures again. Kostov and the IMF official discussed the structural reform. The IMF representatives emphasised that it is important to finalise the privatization transactions for the Bulgarian Telecommunications Company and Bulbank, as this would boost foreign investors' confidence in Bulgaria