Newsy|:: IMF postpones meeting on Romania's aid after ruling


IMF postpones meeting on Romania's aid after ruling

The International Monetary Fund postponed its June 28 meeting to review Romania's 20 billion euros aid package on Saturday after the country's top court rejected key planned spending cuts.

On Friday, the European Union state's top court ruled parts of an austerity package related to pension cuts were not in line with the constitution. Disbursement of about 2 billion euros ($2.68 billion) in IMF and European Union funds depended on the court's approval of a government move to cut state wages by a quarter and reduce pensions by 15 percent. "The Fund is assessing the impact of the Constitutional Court's ruling on fiscal measures proposed by the government," Jeffrey Franks, IMF mission chief for Romania said in a statement. "Pending the identification of alternative measures, the IMF Board meeting ... has been postponed." Franks said he was confident new measures could be presented to the Board "very soon". Romania's centrist coalition government started an emergency meeting at 0700 GMT and analysts have said alternative measures likely include tax hikes. For now, the spending cuts package -- including the public sector wage cuts, which the court did not object to -- will be sent to parliament which must bring them in line with the constitution, a process which could be lengthy. The 20-billion-euro aid package is vital for the recession-afflicted economy, and the court ruling sharply depressed the leu currency and stocks on Friday, while Romanian sovereign Eurobonds dropped sharply. Copyright (2010) Thomson Reuters