“The IMF’s Board unanimously approved the disbursement of the next loan installment. The Board commended the measures implemented so far and the government’s commitment to the program,” said Mihai Tanasescu, Romania’s representative to the IMF.
The international institution recommended Romania continue its fiscal consolidation so that the budget deficit can be brought below 3% of the gross domestic product at the end of 2012, Tanasescu told Mediafax.
Romanian authorities should also step up structural reforms, he added.
In April 2011, Romania and the IMF signed a two-year precautionary loan agreement, successor to a EUR20 billion bailout package received during 2009-2011. The new deal is supported by a EUR1.4 billion precautionary loan from the European Union and a EUR400 million credit line from the World Bank.
So far, the IMF approved total financing to Romania worth around EUR2 billion under the new arrangement, but the authorities in Bucharest have not drawn any funds.