IMF approves next tranche of Romania’s loan

The IMF approved a 905m-euro instalment to Romania on Friday (January 7th) under the country’s stand-by agreement with the Fund. The tranche should have been disbursed around mid-December but was postponed pending approval of the 2011 state budget, public sector wage laws and the pension reform. “Romania is now on a clear path to meeting its short- and medium-term fiscal goals. The current challenge is to fully implement the approved reforms and maintain tight control over expenditures to assure that the budget parameters are observed,” First Deputy Managing Director John Lipsky said after a meeting of the IMF Executive Board.