EU: Romania Meets Criteria For EUR150M Loan Disbursement

05.09.2011 By Florentina Dragu

Romania has met the criteria requested by the European Commission for the disbursement of the final tranche of a EUR5 billion loan, worth EUR150 million, the EU mission chief Istvan Szekely said Monday.

"The main objective of the EU's mission was to establish whether the criteria required for the disbursement of the final loan tranche have been met. They were, and the last tranche of EUR150 million will be released," Szekely told a news conference in Bucharest.

In 2009, Romania and the European Commission signed a EUR5 billion loan agreement, part of a larger EUR20 billion two-year financing package led by the International Monetary Fund.

The eastern European country and its international partners recently agreed on a EUR5 billion follow-up precautionary deal that will end in 2013.

"The program is supported by a precautionary agreement worth a total EUR5 billion, of which EUR1.5 billion come from the European Commission," Szekely said.

He added the funds will not be disbursed unless market evolutions request it.

Joint teams from the IMF, the EU and the World Bank arrived in Bucharest on February 25 for the first review of the follow-up agreement.