Romania to seek new deal with IMF

(BUCHAREST) - Romania will try to reach a new stand-by agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) when an ongoing deal expires in April 2013, President Traian Basescu said Thursday.

"With the prime minister and the central bank governor we have decided to conclude a new agreement with the IMF, covering one or two years," Basescu told a delegation from the IMF and the European Union.

He said that international lenders should now help Romania draw up a medium-term growth strategy.

Prime Minister Victor Ponta backed the idea.

"The ongoing deal, which provided Romania with a buffer to be used in case of a crisis, expires in April," he told B1TV station.

"We should sign a new precautionary agreement that could help us build on what we have already achieved," Ponta added.

In May 2009, Romania obtained a 20-billion-euro ($24.7-billion) rescue package from the IMF, the European Union and the World Bank in exchange for sharp spending cuts.

In March 2011, the IMF and the EU agreed to provide a fresh credit line of 5.0 billion euros, to be drawn only in case of emergency.