On today’s meeting, the Executive has approved the draft law on the ratification of the stand – by loan agreement with IMF, about to be sent to Parliament, PM Emil Boc has announced.
The Head of the Executive has stated that it is about the loan worth nearly 13 billion EUR that Romania contracted with IMF. The money will go entirely to the National Bank of Romania for the consolidation of the country’s foreign currency reserve, so that BNR can diminish the minimum compulsory reserves from 40 percent as they are at present, to 3 percent as needed to adopt the EUR currency.
The Public Finance Minister, Mr. Gheorghe Pogea has added that whereby this financing agreement to unfold during 24 months, only one portion of the eight was drawn, the beneficiary being the National Bank of Romania.
BNR will have to return the money, PM has added, outlining that “no one cent interest will be paid by Romanians for the money BNR returns to IMF”
“The Executive takes only 5 billion EUR from the 20 bln EUR it has been talked about. This money comes from the European Commission in more portions and the first one of 1, 5 billion EUR has already reached Romania”, PM Emil Boc has stated.
With respect to the EU loan, the five billion EUR will be used by the Romanian Executive for infrastructure works, for backing the budget deficit, according to Parliament’s assent, and money will be returned by the Finance Ministry. In his turn, the Finance Minister, Mr. Gheorghe Pogea has stated that “no money has been spent” from the first portion of the loan agreement with the European Commission, worth 1,487 billions EUR.
“With respect to negotiations and the agreement with the European Commission and IMF, it is important that by July 1st, after the first semester of the year, Romania observed its fiscal and budget commitments, the way they had been set. And the budget deficit set with IMF and Commission was observed over the first six months of the year”, the Head of the Executive has stated.