Banks lend Ministry of Finance EUR 1.4 billion

The loan is the equivalent of about 1.2 percent of the estimated GDP for 2009 and is the largest amount ever raised by the Romanian state both on the domestic and foreign markets, excluding its agreements with international financial institutions. The sum obtained by the treasury is almost the same as the third tranche of the IMF bailout loan, now postponed until next year. The IMF was to have lent Romania about EUR 1.5 billion in December, half of which was to cover the budgetary deficit, but it decided to withhold the payment owing to the country’s political instability.
Anda Dragan