Nobody fears the IMF, not even politicians or trade unions, Romania's President Traian Basescu declared, on Wednesday in a radio talk show. He added that the temptation to have a counter position than the President made others take this stand.

Here are some of the most important declarations:

  • EU conditions any loan to an IMF agreement
  • Romania is in this situation because resources were wasted
  • Romania will not be sanctioned by the EU on the budgetary deficit, but the EC will critique its previous waste of resources
  • Everybody attacked my stand two days ago: the President has every right to address the Parliament in times of crisis and propose solutions
  • Romania will take up a 2 year loan with a low interest rate but let's not forget that some billions of euro are involved
  • If we reject the idea of austerity, we will have to face serious consequences in two years' time
  • If we respect anti crisis measures, we will take up a lower loan
  • No responsible expert in Romania will declare that the country can overcome the crisis without a loan
  • No private society will receive money from the state from this loan, or budget money
  • IMF money will cover the Central Bank reserves which will allow banks to use a part of their reserves at the central bank to finance the economy
  • The loan needs to also cover the current account deficit and the state budget deficit
  • let's not undermine the capacity of Romanian negotiators to deal with the IMF
  • I do not think that the IMF will request a VAT increase or compel Romania to give up its fixed tax. There are other solutions.