IMF, EC and World Bank return to Romania for third review of stand-by agreement

A joint team formed of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), European Commission (EC) and the World Bank representatives will come in Bucharest between October 25 and November 7 for the third evaluation of the country’s new stand-by agreement. The mission will meet Romanian authorities, representatives of political parties, unions, business associations, banks, and civil society organizations. In March 2011, Romanian authorities decided to extend the agreement with the IMF through a precautionary agreement worth EUR 3.6 billion. The new agreement with IMF is accompanied by a EUR 1.4 billion preventive support from the European Union and a loan of EUR 400 million from the World Bank. Recently, the International Monetary Fund’s Executive board has approved the second review of the precautionary agreement and will provide for Romania the third tranche of EUR 480 million. The first tranche was of EUR 67 million, while the second amounted to around EUR 475 million. Jeffrey Franks, the head of the IMF delegation in Bucharest, has recently said that the International Monetary Fund will review the forecast on Romania’s economic growth down to 2 percent from a previous estimate of 3.5 to 4 percent due to the amplified external risks of contagion. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com (photo source: Sxc.hu)