The Govt. intention to sign new agreement with the IMF is “good” but “premature,” says Basescu

Suspended president Traian Basescu said the government’s decision to announce the intention of signing a new stand-by agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the period between 2013 and 2015 is very good, but premature.

“I believe the foundations for the new agreement will be laid during the next evaluation mission, which takes place in fall. It is very good that the Romanian government has announced it intends to start a new agreement. This gives it a larger negotiation margin regarding what has been done and what has not been done,” said Basescu, quoted by Mediafax newswire.

In February, Mugur Isarescu, the governor of the Romanian National Bank, said Romania should not sign a new agreement with the IMF because this would not be a good signal for the markets.

Regarding this statement, Basescu said he could not afford to contradict Isarescu, but in his personal view, “the agreement with the EU and the IMF is a guarantee that Romania will stay on a consecvent path to modernize its own economy.”

Last week, Finance Minister Florin Georgescu said the government intends to sign a new stand-by agreement with the IMF, probably for the next two years.

Read more about

Analysis Gebrüder Weiss Romania: Transport and logistics market in 2024 – from challenges to opportunities

read more

Mihai Tanasescu, Romania’s representative to the IMF said: “I believe very few people know that Poland has an agreement with the IMF in which a loan is permanently at the disposal of this country. Maybe Romania, at the moment, after the implementation of the current agreement, will go to a superior stage and have this type of collaboration with the IMF based on a financing line.”

Otilia Haraga