The Romanian state's overdue debts went up to RON 1.7 billion (around EUR 414 million), from RON 1.5 billion (EUR 365 million), but paying all the debt accumulated last year would significantly reduce the country's investment power, according to Sebastian Vladescu, the Romanian finance minister (in picture). The country should reduce its overdue general budget debts to around one third of the existing amount, to RON 480 million (EUR 117 million), as requested by the International Monetary Fund in February this year. Vladescu, who attended a TV show aired on Pro TV this week-end, mentioned the EUR 243 million debt the state had to pay to US firm Bechtel, which is building the Transilvania highway. Most of the state's debt has been accumulated by the local authorities, which hopes for a better economic development and which were hoping to pay the debt from the 2010 budget.