“Romania has managed to successfully complete its second financial program with the IMF. To be honest, it has faced a few problems along the way, but all went well in the end. Now, Romania must secure a new loan agreement,” Basescu said at the beginning of talks with IMF chief.
Basescu also said Romania is on the right path towards macroeconomic stability, but stressed the country will never reach a balance through populist measures.
Lagarde said Romania ought to restructure its state companies to make them more attractive to potential investors, adding that structural reforms must be carried out. She also said that macroeconomic stability is vital for a country’s economic growth.
Lagarde is on visit to Bucharest on July 15-16 and an IMF mission will visit Bucharest between July 17 and July 31 to discuss a potential follow up agreement with Romania.
The IMF’s board last month announced Romania has successfully concluded its second loan program with the international institution, making an additional amount of EUR520.7 million available for disbursement.
Romania and the IMF have signed a two-year EUR3.6 billion loan agreement in 2011, following the completion of a larger EUR13 billion deal secured in 2009. The agreement was supplemented by a EUR1.4 billion loan from the European Union and another EUR1 billion from the World Bank. The country has not drawn any funds under the second program.