Eurasia Press & News
A financial aid package for Romania aimed at shoring up the country’s dwindling finances could total roughly 20 billion euros, the country’s president has warned.
Speaking on television on Tuesday, President Traian Basescu said that the aid was a necessary ”safety belt” and that details of the loan package would be made public in the coming days.
Asked if media reports that the aid package could reach 20 billion euros are true, Basescu said that a two year loan could be close to that figure.
Romania has approached both the International Monetary Fund and the European Union for aid, and has been holding talks with an IMF mission that arrived in Bucharest last week.
Romania is facing the threat of recession and a potential financing crisis due of its heavy dependence on foreign cash at a time of liquidity shortages. In addition, its currency has lost some 20 per cent of its value in the past year, making repayment of euro denominated loans all the more difficult.
If Romania does take out a loan, it would be the next country in eastern Europe after Hungary, Latvia, Ukraine and Belarus to receive international assistance.