In January 1982, Romania and the banks reached an agreement of defferment. IMF announced that it was negotiating a new agreement with Romania and that they'd give additional loans in return for implementing economic reforms. The IMF was involved in the negotiations between the Romanian government and 200 Western banks regarding the rescheduling of the debt. The Romanian authorities began a very tough austerity program, which gained the approval of IMF, releasing the second tranche of the loan on June 24, 1982. Following negotiations, the Paris Club agreed to delay 80% of the arrears due for 1981 and 1982 and the IMF released the last tranche in December 1982. On December 16, 1982, at the National Conference of the Romanian Communist Party, President Nicolae Ceaușescu announced a new policy of paying off all of Romania's external debt, a policy continued throughout the 1980s. In 1987, Ceaușescu entered an open conflict with the IMF after he stopped the communication of basic economic data to the IMF and a year later he banned contracting new loans from the IMF, announcing that Romania gave up on Western financing forever. Romania made the last payment in 1989, a few months before the Romanian Revolution. According to Mugur Isărescu, Ceaușescu wanted to take the country out of the IMF, but he did not act out of the fear that he might lose the gold deposited at the organization. After the Revolution, Romania had no debt and some reserves, which were quickly depleted. By September 1990, the Romanian government began talks with the IMF, seeking a line of credit. Romania signed an agreement with the IMF in March 1991, getting $1 billion in aid on the condition of beginning free market reforms, including abolishing foreign exchange restrictions. Removing the restrictions on prices led to a 250% inflation. The IMF identified the monetary surplus, rather than the economic depression, as the main priority for the government and the government tried to limit as much as possible the spending, having a budget surplus in 1991. This program led to a crisis which affected much of the economy, leading to the impossibility for companies to pay their suppliers (arrears reached 40% of the companies' turnover). The government broke the terms of the agreement in order to prevent a collapse of the entire economy, forcing the National Bank to take over debts from state-owned companies. The IMF canceled the stand-by agreement and recommended the National Bank to force the companies' to pay their credits before maturation, thereby neutralizing much of the effects of the government's program.