conditions

Romania’s government sent a letter to the International Monetary Fund saying the country has met all requirements for a new tranche out of the EUR13 billion stand-by loan, including a budget deficit of 6.6% of the gross domestic product for 2010, people close to the matter told MEDIAFAX.

The public sector wage law, approving the 2011 state budget and pension reform are among the issues cited by the IMF as requiring that the next tranche of the loan be released to Romania in January, a month later than originally scheduled.

Romanian banks expect, for the first time in the past two years, a relaxation of lending standards for mortgage loans, on the real estate market, by lowering housing prices, according to a central bank survey.

The European Commission is not conditioning a EUR5 billion loan to Romania to the country’s progress in fighting corruption, Amelia Torres, spokesperson for EU Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Joaquin Almunia, told MEDIAFAX Wednesday.

The budget deficit negotiated by Romania with the IMF is set for this year at RON24.36 billion, with quarterly targets, set considering annual budget revenues, without external non-reimbursable sums, of RON166.72 billion and primary spending of RON182.72 billion.

The Council of Europe anti-torture Committee, which visited, in 2006, several prison facilities in Romania, warned that the prisons are overcrowded and the inmates spend most of their time in their cells. Romanian authorities said the situation has changed following the passing of the prison law.