BUCHAREST (Romania), December 14 (SeeNews) – Romania is likely to receive in January the next tranche under its 20 billion euro ($29.3 billion) stand-by loan led by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the country’s interim Prime Minister Emil Boc said on Monday.
“It’s not likely to get a tranche from the EU or the IMF by the end of the year, but there are high chances to get it in January,” Boc told reporters.
In November, the IMF delayed the release of the third tranche under the 20 billion euro aid package signed earlier this year with the country, until the political situation in Romania stabilises. The European Commission has also delayed the disbursement of its second tranche of aid to Romania, worth one billion euro, for the same reason.
Political uncertainty has been high in Romania since the fall of the country's minority government in a no-confidence vote in October. It is currently governed by an interim cabinet.
The third tranche from the IMF was worth 1.5 billion euro and was due in December. The fourth tranche from the IMF has been set at 820 million euro. The IMF has so far disbursed around 6.6 billion euro to Romania in the first two tranches of the loan facility.
An IMF technical team started on Monday a three-day visit to Romania to discuss the country’s 2010 budget.
Under the stand-by agreement, signed in May, the IMF pledged to lend Romania 12.95 billion euro, the World Bank will extend a loan of 1.0 to 1.5 billion euro and the rest will come from other international organisations, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
($ = 0.6826 euro)