Romania's Govt OKs "First House" Program's Changes - Sources

Romania's Government approved Wednesday the changes brought to the "First House" program and agreed during the bank managers' Tuesday talks with Prime Minister Emil Boc, official sources told MEDIAFAX.

Boc met Tuesday with the bankers interested in the program that grants a state guarantee of up to EUR60,000 for people aiming to buy their first house.
 
At the end of the meeting, the bankers announced that the convention's text will be changed Thursday with a provision to include in the program the newly-built apartments that are financed from loans and already mortgaged by their developers.
 
The bankers and the Premier also discussed Tuesday about setting up an insurance for the respective dwellings and the way of recovering the money in case the owners fail to pay the installments.
 
The guarantee convention was signed by the Finance Ministry and the National Fund for Guaranteeing the Small- and Mid-Sized Enterprises, on one hand, and the representatives of the banks interested to participate in the program, on the other hand.
 
Initially, the Finance Ministry received offers for the "First House" program from 20 banks. The value of the offers submitted by the banks totaled EUR1.46 billion, higher than the maximum guarantee threshold of EUR1 billion set up by the government.

MEDIAFAX