Romania May Get 2 New IMF Loan Tranches On Feb 17 – President

Basescu said the government and parliament must observe a tight schedule in order to receive the two disbursements, which amount to EUR2.3 billion.

„We must have a functioning government by December 23 so that it can send the budget to parliament by year-end and the parliament may begin debates on January 4 or January 5 and have it approved on January 16,” Basescu said.

He said the IMF might conclude its second assessment mission to Romania in the January 20 – January 27 period and the institution’s board could vote on new disbursements at its meeting on February 12 – February 15.

„It’s not a fixed date, though. If Romania honors its commitments, we could receive on February 17 both the third and fourth tranches (…) totaling EUR2.3 billion,” Basescu said.

He added half of the money would go to the central bank and the other half to the Finance Ministry to support the budget deficit.

Early 2009, the IMF has lent Romania EUR13 billion as part of a larger bailout package which includes funds from the EU, the World Bank and other financial organizations to cushion the effects of a deepening recession.

Romania has received so far around EUR7 billion in two tranches from the IMF, and was scheduled to get another EUR1.5 billion by year-end. Under the loan agreement, a fourth disbursement is due in March 2010.

In November, the IMF decided to delay its third disbursement to Romania due to political turmoil, as the eastern European country remained without a government after Prime Minister Emil Boc’s Cabinet lost a confidence vote in parliament.

On Thursday, the newly reelected President Traian Basescu said he reappointed Boc in charge of forming a new government.