Romania To Use Half Of IMF Loan Tranches For Budget – FinMin

„We won’t be bringing in any more money to the state budget. The money will follow its normal course, to the central bank,” Vladescu told reporters.

He said Romania is in a „good enough position” to secure independent financing. „However, it’s a very good thing that we have IMF’s support now, as it increases our credibility and it lowers the costs for us,” Vladescu said.

On the other hand, Vladescu recanted an earlier statement regarding a possible revision of the IMF agreement, saying any additional measures to the deal will not be radical and the existing targets won’t be affected.

„The measures are not radical (…). The agreement won’t be revised,” he said.

On Thursday, Vladescu said Romania’s EUR13 billion standby arrangement with the IMF could be revised to include new measures.

An IMF mission arrived in Bucharest January 20 for a seven-day stay to assess Romania’s performance under the standby deal. If the mission’s report is positive, the IMF may disburse two new tranches to the country, totaling EUR2.3 billion.

Since it signed the agreement in March last year, Romania received nearly EUR7 billion from the IMF in two installments. A third disbursement should have arrived in December last year, but the IMF temporarily suspended the program due to political instability.