Yesterday, the Senate Committee on Budget and Finance, Banking and Stock Exchange yesterday rejected the draft law on the ratification of the letters of intent in connection with the stand-by Agreement between Romania and the IMF with 5 votes in favour (PSD and PNL) and four against (PDL), Agerpres reports.

Committee Vice-President Marius Sorin Bota (PSD) explained after the meeting that PSD had opposed and continued to oppose the measures the Executive had committee to take under those letters of intent, mainly referring to the VAT hike.

‘If the Senate plenum rejects the draft law, the Government should normally re-consider those measures’, said the PSD senator. The President of the Committee, Ovidiu Marian (PDL), on the other hand, said there was ‘no risk’ stemming from the Committee’s negative report.