A controversial figure - the value of the new agreement with the IMF

Romania will receive a line of credit of several billion Euros from the EU and IMF which it will use if the economy begins to slide again. This is the main provision of the new precautionary agreement that the Romanian officials are bound to sign soon with the international lenders.

The technical parameters of the new agreement have not been made public, which has led to several possible versions being discussed.

The new stand-by agreement may involve a line of credit of 1.9 billion Euros, to be paid back over a period of five years, reliable sources close to the negotiations said for "BURSA".

Our sources said that the Romanian authorities would like for the new loan to have a longer maturity, as Romania already has 20 billion Euros to pay back out of the current stand-by agreement.

The officials have said that 800 million out of the total amount of 1.9 billion would be available right away, in the event economic difficulties arose.

However, government sources quoted by Mediafax claim that the IMF will lend 3.6 billion Euros to Romania, most likely for a year, with the main reason being that 2012 is an electoral year. The news was not officially confirmed by the representatives of the government. The statements from the "sources" come as, yesterday, at the headquarters of the NBR, president Traian Băsescu, PM Emil Boc, the minister of Gheorghe Ialomiţianu and the governor of the Central Bank, Mugur Isărescu set the terms of the new agreement with the IMF and the EU, but the details have been kept secret.

A press release by the NBR states: "The meeting concerned the current status of the ongoing foreign financing agreements concluded with the European Union, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and other international financial institutions. The terms of a new financing cautionary agreement with the European Union and the IMF were discussed".

The aforementioned press release does not specify the terms of the new agreement, but it does mention the following: "in order to allow the resumption of healthy economic growth, the continuation of the fiscal consolidation and structural reforms is essential, so that the implementation of the medium term goals would ensure the sustainability of the nominal and real convergence with the EU". Contacted by BURSA, Finance Minister Gheorghe Ialomiţianu declined to make any comments. The final terms of the agreement will be set after today"s meeting of the Board of the IMF, which will decide whether Romania will receive the new 900 million Euros tranche. President Traian Băsescu recently argued for the need to continue the relationship with the IMF and the EU, by way of a new cautionary agreement, by which Romania would have on hand a line of credit to use if the economy started sliding again. The new agreement would allow the reformation of the state to continue.

The head of the IMF mission, Jeffrey Franks, recently said that the ongoing issues that Europe is still being faced with are one of the reasons that Romania is looking to continue its relationship with the IMF: "Until the crisis will have completely disappeared from Europe, there are certain dangers, for any emerging countries in Europe, not just for Romania, Hungary or Latvia. Emerging Europe is not yet stable, so the danger remains, which is why the Romanian government decided to negotiate a new agreement with the Fund. Nevertheless, the risks have far decreased compared to two years ago".