Money from IMF conditioned on Ordinance 50
The modification of Ordinance 50 on the individuals' loans so as
not to be applicable to existing loans is one of the pre-conditions
for Romania to receive the next tranche of around 900 million euros
from the IMF, according to the additional letter of intent agreed
with the IMF.
There is a lot at stake both for bankers and for customers, with
the main point of contention being the application of the new
regulations for existing loans, as well, which is considered to be
retroactive by bankers.
The application of the ordinance for the eight million existing
contracts would firstly amount to a transparent manner of
calculating the interest rate, based on verifiable
indicators.
Preconditions include the approval of the 2011 budget, arrears, the
public sector wage law and pension reform, which remain on the list
of yet unresolved problems that the Government should tackle.
The Government also pledged to the Fund it would continue personnel
cutbacks and tax big wealth, while the reduced taxation of labour
would only be achievable after the economy has rebounded.
The release of the next tranche from the IMF, originally scheduled
for mid-December, has been put off until mid-January 2011, although
most criteria set to be met by the end of September were deemed as
having been fulfilled.