Romania agrees with IMF and EC on third loan, a EUR 4 billion precautionary credit line

Romania recently agreed with and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Commission on a new EUR 4 billion preventive financial deal over the next two years. Each of the two financial institutions will provide half of the amount. The deal will be discussed in the IMF board this fall, and it follows a similar cautionary financial agreement between Romania and the international financiers in the last two years. Romania again says it wants to treat the new money as a safety net and does not plan to use it, similarly to the previous package. The new deal was announced by Andrea Schaechter, the new chief of IMF's mission to Romania in a press conference on Wednesday (July 31), at the end of the joint IMF - EC mission to the country. This will be Romania's third agreement with the IMF since 2009. The first package was worth EUR 20 billion, out of which some EUR 13 billion came from the IMF, and helped Romania weather the financial storms. The second was signed in 2011 and was worth some EUR 5 billion, out of which EUR 3.6 billion from the IMF, and was meant to be a precautionary credit line. editor@romania-insider.com