Romania gets SDR 250m for contingencies

The new agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the draft of which will be considered by the IMF Executive Board in June, will grant Romania access to SDR 250 million (some $362.5 million) to be drawn only for contingencies, IMF’s resident representative in Romania Graeme Justice said. “In principle, Romania has access to these funds for special cases, but the understanding is for it not to actually use this money,” Justice was quoted as saying by Mediafax. The new programme will be 24 month long (ending June 2006 i.e.) and supported by a precautionary stand-by arrangement. The Romanian authorities and the IMF staff agreed upon the final version of the arrangement, which had been discussed since last November, in Washington at the end of last week. IMF’s Bucharest office confirmed the completion of the talks. “The main macroeconomic objectives are to consolidate stabilisation and gradually lower inflation to mid-single digits by 2006, and keep the current account deficit below 5 1/2 percent of GDP. The programme, in line with Romania’s strong commitment to accede to the European Union in 2007, aims to decisively improve governance and the business climate and complete the privatisation agenda,” the IMF representative in Bucharest says. ZF