“We are considering using any money that we cannot otherwise draw off the market or find in our budget in case things derail in the eurozone,” Basescu said.
“We have EUR3.5 billion at our disposal from the IMF and we haven’t used any of it although we could have drawn over EUR1 billion by now. We will secure resources from the World Bank, the EU, and wherever else possible in the event Romania ever needs them,” Basescu said.
“For instance,” the head of state explained, “if exports fall, we cannot tell Romanians we cannot pay their wages because we’re unable to export to Germany. We need to have money for wages, pensions and administrative expenses at our disposal.
The head of state said Romania would be faced with a difficult situation and its economic growth would be halted if the eurozone slips into recession.
Romania is in talks with the World Bank over a EUR1 billion credit line to support its state budget, the bank’s country manager Francois Rantrua told Bloomberg in an interview.
The Romanian Government is negotiating with the World Bank the terms of the precautionary accord, which will let it to decide at a later stage whether to draw from the funds or not, Rantrua was quoted as saying.
The World Bank will join the International Monetary Fund and the European Union in a precautionary agreement with Romania, signed in March 2011, once the credit line is approved. The IMF and the EU set aside EUR5 billion for the Government to access on in case of market turmoil. Romania hasn’t drawn any money so far.
“Romania will have to meet certain mutually agreed measures, which are currently being discussed,” Rantrua said in the interview. “The duration of the credit line can be as long as three years.”