Romania Govt Might Have To Use Confidence Votes To Adopt Measures Agreed With IMF- President

Basescu stressed it is imperative that the International Monetary Fund disburse the fifth installment to the country, worth EUR850 million.

He added that the IMF will not be satisfied only with Romania’s drafting a normative act in this respect, as it will wish to know that the act is not stuck at the Constitutional Court, sent back to Parliament or declared unconstitutional.

Basescu underscored that the IMF board should be handed the document at least ten days before its reunion on June 28, in order to analyze it thoroughly, whereas Romania, he stressed, should wrap up all legal procedures until June 15.

Joint teams from the IMF, the European Commission and the World Bank visited Romania between April 27 and May 10 for the fourth review of the country’s performance under the loan agreement.

At the end of the mission, Romanian authorities announced a series of austerity measures aimed at lowering the budget deficit and ailing the economy, including a 25% cut in public wages.

Romania and the IMF have agreed to a budget deficit of 6.8% of the gross domestic product in 2010, from an initial target of 5.9% of GDP.

In addition, the Government promised to cut the number of public employees by 70,000 this year, to 1.29 million and pledged to „aggressively” revive the privatization program.