“We’ve reached our goal to create a comfortable liquidity buffer. [The liquidity levels] are even higher than estimated,” Dragoi told Ziarul Financiar.
He said the buffer would provide financial stability should the situation in the eurozone worsen.
Under a EUR3.5 billion loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund, the ministry has pledged to boost its liquidity buffer to around 20 billion lei (EUR4.6 billion) to finance the budget deficit and cover debt payments stretching over a period of four months.
The ministry is seeking an additional safety net under the form of a EUR1 billion credit line from the World Bank at an interest rate of 0.25% a year, Dragoi said. The loan, maturing in three years, would be used if borrowing costs on international markets become prohibitive.
Romania sold debt worth over 23.8 billion lei (EUR5.4 million) o on the domestic market so far this year. Additionally, two 10-year US-dollar denominated bond auctions on the US market have brought the country $2.25 billion.
(English version by Florentina Dragu)