February 26, 1982

In a case similar to that of Poland, the State Department said today that the Federal Government is reimbursing two private American banks $5.8 million because Rumania has failed to meet payments due on Federally guaranteed loans for grain purchases. But neither the Reagan Administration nor the private American banks handling the loans to Rumania have moved to declare that country in default, Dean Fischer, a State Department spokesman, said. Rumania owes $91 million for grain purchased with guarantees from the Agriculture Department's Commodity Credit Corporation. That agency also has guaranteed $1.6 billion in loans over several years for Polish food purchases. The Administration announced last month that it would reimburse $71 million to American banks because the Poles had missed that much in repayments.

Articles in Metropolitan Report on Jan. 28 and 29 about the suspects in the Brink's holdup, discussing a violent protest at Kennedy Airport, incorrectly described the racial makeup of the Springbok rugby team of South Africa. There was one nonwhite player on the team that toured the United States.

IT is difficult to go to the Cloisters in Fort Tryon Park on a fine morning toward the end of winter and not feel pleased and uplifted. The sun gives light, if not heat. The air in the central cloister itself is scented ever so slightly by orange trees. The works of art are awesome. Even the staff seems to be having a good time. As of today and through Sept. 15 this state of affairs will be heightened and multiplied by a temporary exhibition that is one of the most extraordinary things of its kind. ''Radiance and Reflection'' is its general title, and it consists of medieval sculpture and stained glass from the collection of the late Raymond Pitcairn.

The Reagan Administration decided today to order an embargo of oil from Libya, Administration officials said. They said the decision was approved by President Reagan at a National Security Council meeting this afternoon and follows months of discussion within the Administration on steps to be taken against the regime of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, which the Administration has accused of supporting world terrorism. The National Security Council also voted to cut off the sale of United States-made oil drilling equipment to Libya, the officials said. They asked that their names not be used.

''When this bill becomes law, I have failed, but not until then.'' - Senator Lowell P. Weicker Jr., ending filibuster against antibusing legislation. (A14:1.)