Tanczos Barna: Finance Ministry Borrowed at a High 7.9% Interest Rates

Finance Minister Tanczos Barna revealed that Romania borrows from international markets at very high interest rates, adding that these can decrease if the government shows predictability and credibility. This is the first year in which we must return to a predictable path and move towards the 3% deficit in the 7 years that Romania has assumed,” he said.

“Today, the Ministry of Finance borrowed at an interest rate of 7.9%. The interest rates are very high precisely because of this high exposure. In 2024, Romania borrowed on international and national markets for the amount of 250 billion lei. The plan for 2025 is 231 billion. “We can only reduce the cost of interest if we show predictability, credibility and keep our word,” Tanczos Barna told Europa FM on Thursday.

He admitted that this is the first question of foreign investors lending to Romania, whether the political class understands the situation the country is in.
“That is the first question: whether the decision-makers in the Government understand how serious or less serious the situation in Romania is. And I am firmly convinced that this Government finally understands. This is the first year in which we must move towards the 3% deficit in the 7 years that Romania has assumed. I am convinced that both the ministers and the Prime Minister understand that this is a year in which pride does not matter, who receives how much, how they receive it, but teamwork to fit the entire budget into this 7% deficit and to make investments, primarily from European funds,” Tanczos Barna also said.
He specified that this year, Romania will have a total of over 140 billion euros in European and national funds, the National Plan for Resilience and Recovery (PNRR), agriculture, highways for investments.
“We could say that the deficit is equal, as a percentage, to the percentage of investments in the 2025 budget. But the idea is that we need stability, we need hard work on the absorption of European funds, because they are the cheapest funds for investments (…), and national funds must be spent wisely, so as not to waste this very, very hard-earned money”, concluded the Minister of Finance.
On February 3-7, a mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will arrive in the country.
“The IMF team will meet with representatives of the new Romanian Government and the National Bank of Romania to analyze recent financial and economic developments and update the macroeconomic outlook. The mission will be led by Joong Shik Kang, who replaced Jan Kees Martijn as head of the IMF mission in Romania. Martijn has obtained a new position, in line with the IMF’s internal policies,” according to the IMF statement.
borrowedcredibilityFinance ministryforeign investorshigh interestinterest ratesinternational marketslendingRomaniaTanczos Barna
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  • Panagiotis Spyridis

    Oups! that is a really high Rate.