Any foreign aid granted to Romania to avoid a financial crisis will probably impose tough austerity measures on the EU's second poorest state and provide little long-term support for the leu currency.
Economists said any deal in response to Romania's request would calm fears of an immediate meltdown and could lead to a short-term market rise. But they said it did not remove the need for a fundamental depreciation in the leu or open up a way back to booming growth.
Few details of a potential plan have been made public, but a European Union diplomat source close to talks with the EU and the IMF said a deal could be decided very quickly if Romania agrees to its terms. An IMF team visits Bucharest this week.
