Contacts: In Bucharest – Iolanda Stăniloiu (40 21) 201 03 24 istaniloiu@worldbank.org In Washington – Kristyn Schrader +1-202-458-2736 Kschrader@worldbank.org Bucharest, March 25, 2009—As part of the multilateral financial support agreed to today with Romania to address the effects of the global economic and financial crisis and promote the reform agenda of the government, the World Bank is prepared to provide support amounting to one billion Euros, subject to approval from its Executive Board. Orsalia Kalantzopoulos, World Bank Director for Central Europe and the Baltic Countries said “Together with other international partners, the World Bank looks forward to working closely with the Government of Romania over the next two years in implementing a package of measures that will limit the severity of the recession and its impact on the vulnerable, but also lay the foundations for a sound and inclusive economic recovery that capitalizes on Romania’s strengths and opportunities.” The World Bank support would focus on longer-term structural issues in three key areas: 1) public sector reforms, notably in fiscal/public financial management to improve the transparency and predictability of public spending and quality of public services; 2) strengthening social protection (social assistance and pensions) to cushion the impact of the crisis on the vulnerable and improve the efficiency and viability of these programs; and 3) financial sector reforms to enhance the resilience and functioning of the sector. These measures would support the country’s longer-term stabilization and economic restructuring agenda. In the public sector, the Bank would support measures that would help to improve the quality of public spending over time. The program would cover cross-sectoral reforms, as well as measures in the health and education sectors, to improve the quality of service delivery and promote more equitable access, both contributing to better health and education outcomes. In the area of social assistance, the measures would involve increasing the funding of well-targeted programs, and improving the targeting, design and management of social protection programs. In pensions, the Bank would support measures to protect the living standards of retirees by improving the fiscal sustainability of the public pension scheme, and protecting and strengthening the integrity and equity of the multi-pillar pension system. In the financial sector, the Bank’s focus would be on medium-term reforms that complement those covered by the IMF program. The financing would be provided in the form of series of Development Policy Loans (DPLs) disbursed over the course of 24 months. The Bank would expect to be able to disburse part of the loan balance in 2009 and part in 2010 provided that progress is made on achieving the reform measures. In addition to the program of DPLs, the Bank continues to have an active engagement with Romania through a large portfolio of investment operations in social cohesion, agriculture, environment, health and education, knowledge economy, energy, natural and hazard mitigation, and the judicial system. For more information, please visit: www.worldbank.org/eca
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