World Business

IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn seems certain Romania will overcome crisis but not so fast. While greeting Strauss-Kahn at Cotroceni, Traian Basescu admitted he considers signing new stand-by assistance deal, or taking flexible credit line in the future.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) enforces constraint policies to discipline the states that cannot do so themselves. The IMF was and is for real, and it continues to support states like Romania or Hungary. The Fund focuses on fighting the crisis, though in the past it wished to save the world.

The World Bank Country Director, Central European and Baltic Countries Peter Harrold, reaffirmed the institution’s support for Romania’s reform agenda and expressed optimism with the process outcome, after a visit to our country. “This is about how the Government can deliver better services to the population,” said Harrold. “It is critically important to continue with structural reforms in order to ensure fiscal sustainability and economic growth in Romania”, he said in a press release. The Romanian counterparts agreed the World Bank partnership with Romania must be continued and discussed the scope for collaboration in a number of areas in the coming years. These priority areas will be determined by the World Bank in close cooperation with the Government and other partners, notably the EU, and might include administrative reforms and monitoring of sector policies, social sector reforms for inclusive growth, and support for the key agricultural sector. Involvement in other pillars mentioned by the national reform plan and by the EU 2020 strategy (for example knowledge economy, or regional development) will also be considered, Peter Harrold said. These are areas where the World Bank has significant experience and accumulated knowledge. An increased engagement of the Bank with regional and local governments and a gradual phasing-in of World Bank fee based services for the Romanian Government, particularly in relation to increasing Romania’s capacity of absorbing EU funds, were also envisaged. The World Bank has provided support to Romania in the context of the financial crisis, as part of a package of support from the IMF, EU and the Bank. The first Development Policy Loan (DPL) for Euro 300 MLN, which is part of a series of three totaling Euro 1 bln, was disbursed on October 2009.

Greece raised the stakes on Thursday in its quest for EU help to tackle its debt crisis, warning it cannot achieve promised deficit cuts if its borrowing costs remain so high and may have to call in the IMF.

The country, however, strongly denied a report that it was scheduled to turn to the international lender as soon as April and said all options for getting support were still open.