IMF mission arrives in Romania for second review

Newsroom 22/07/2011 | 11:24

An International Monetary Fund mission lead by Jeffrey Franks, together with teams from the World Bank and the European Commission will conduct the second review of Romania’s EUR 3.5 billion precautionary arrangement, from July 20 to August 1. The joint mission will meet with officials from the Ministry of Public Finances, as well as with representatives of political parties, unions, business associations, banks, and civil society organizations in the following days, although a precise schedule is not available at this moment.

John Lipsky, Acting Manager Director and Acting Chair of the IMF, previously said that the authorities are in track to meet their fiscal targets for 2011, but the main goal is reaching a 3 percent deficit target in 2012, with a 4.4 percent target set for 2011. In addition, according to IMF’s director, the banking system remains liquid and well-capitalized.

The Romanian authorities have decided to treat the arrangement as precautionary and informed the IMF that they do not intend to draw under the arrangement. The European Commission will also participate in the precautionary agreement with EUR 1.4 billion, while the World Bank has made EUR 0.4 billion available, making a total of EUR 5 billion in aid available for Romania, on a 24 months period, starting this year.