The FINANCIAL -- Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Wednesday that a visit by the International Monetary Fund and European Union to discuss a possible 15-billion-euro ($18.4 billion) credit line was "encouraging."

"We agreed on lots of general things," Orban told reporters after the IMF-EU delegation wrapped up its week-long fact-finding mission. "But there were also differences on several issues."

He said that in September the IMF would lay out its conditions for the aid, which Hungary first sought last year, and would give its opinion on the government's draft 2013 budget.

Talks broke down in December because of unease over a raft of new legislation, in particular a new central bank law that critics including the European Central Bank said endangered the lender's independence.

As EUbusiness reported, the government has since tweaked the central bank legislation, allowing talks with the EU and the IMF to resume.

"We are not a straightforward case," Orban said. "But neither are they."

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