Romania envisages development loan from World Bank Group to cover the low absorption of EU funds

The Romanian Government, through the Ministry of Finance, is preparing to access a new development loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, part of WB Group, in the context of an increasingly fragile budget and the cancellation of some sources of financing from European funds, according to Economica.

A memorandum proposed for approval in the Government meeting on April 3 provides for contracting a new loan – or a series of loans – under financial conditions considered advantageous.

The loan would partially cover the gaps left by the interruption or cancellation of some European funding and support structural reforms necessary to strengthen fiscal sustainability.

"Given the need to finance the state budget deficit and refinance the government's public debt, as well as the IBRD's expertise and collaboration with it in similar programs, we propose contracting a loan and/or a programmatic series of loans for development policies from IBRD. The bank has expressed its willingness to grant Romania such a loan in the coming period," the memorandum reads.

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