Romania Plans To Borrow EUR19B From EU, IMF – Sources

The financial package includes a EUR12 billion loan from the IMF, and a EUR7 billion financing from the EU.

“The discussions are ongoing, but the total amount is at EUR19 billion,” the quoted sources said.

The Government has sent the European Commission a letter asking for the official start of negotiations on a financial aid agreement, and the final value of the financial package will be established after talks with officials from the EC and the IMF.

Romania’s Finance Ministry said Tuesday that it, together with the central bank, has started preliminary talks with the European Commission, the IMF and representatives of other international financial institutions, to assess the macroeconomic environment and the foreign financing Romania needs.

The IMF said Monday in a statement that it will visit Romania March 11-25 for talks on a potential agreement, which would be part of a multilateral financing package to be supported by the European Union and the World Bank, among other international financial institutions.

The Finance Ministry said Romanian authorities plan to access medium-term external financing, a decision already made clear to the European Commission.

Romania needs a foreign loan as a "safety belt" for the private sector and the current account deficit, not to finance its public debt and budget deficit, the country’s President Traian Basescu said Monday in an address to Parliament.