Romania must bring its government arrears down to RON480 million by year-end, from an estimated level of RON1.5 billion in December last year.
The minister said most of the country’s debts last year were generated by local authorities who were confident the economy would revive and hoped their debts would be paid from the 2010 state budget.
Romania’s government is planning to ask the International Monetary Fund for a new waiver of non-observance pertaining to the first-quarter performance criteria in the sector of general government arrears, government sources said Tuesday.
This would be the third waiver of non-observance in the government arrears sector granted by the IMF since the start of the EUR13 billion loan agreement signed with Romania in 2009.
The country has pledged to eliminate all arrears by the end of the IMF program in 2011.
An IMF mission is currently in Bucharest for the fourth review of the stand-by program.