IMF: OUR PROGRAMS HAVE HELPED EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES TO COPE BETTER WITH THE CRISIS
Wall-Street
29 September 2009
The mix of resources, policy flexibility, and more focused
conditionality has allowed the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to
better support Eastern European countries hit by the recent global
financial crisis, said an internal IMF review released today.
MF said in an analysis that reviews the crisis programs ran in
Armenia, Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Costa Rica, El Salvador,
Georgia, Guatemala, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Mongolia, Pakistan,
Romania, Serbia, and Ukraine that the Fund-supported actions were
delivering the kind of policy response and financing needed to help
cushion the blow from the worst crisis since the 1930s. The paper
shows that Mexico, Poland and Columbia have expressed their interest
in attracting financing, in the event of worsening economic conditions.
"What this study tells us is that, with IMF support, many of the severe
disruptions characteristic of past crises have so far been either
avoided or sharply reduced. Serious challenges remain, especially
restoring sustained growth in output and employment, but there are
encouraging signs of stabilization", said the managing director of IMF,
Dominique Strauss-Kahn (photo).
The study notes that the institution has brought funds to control
for pre-existing vulnerabilities, such as current account deficits
and credit booms.
"It is clear that this new generation of programs incorporate the
lessons of the past," IMF Director of Strategy, Policy, and Review
Reza Moghadam said, "While it is certainly too early to draw firm
conclusions, this assessment is useful in providing real-time
feedback to country authorities, IMF staff, partner institutions
and policymakers elsewhere, so that we can continue to learn and
improve further."
Among the factors that have helped avoid past problems were the large
and timely financing, stronger country ownership and policy re h this
year, Romania was the recipient of a â~B¬20-bln external financing
package: â~B¬12.9 bln from IMF, â~B¬5 bln from European Union,
â~B¬1 bln from World Bank and â~B¬1 bln from other international
institutions. IMF has also agreed with nine banks with large exposure
in Romania (Erste Bank, Raiffeisen International, Eurobank EFG,
National Bank of Greece, UniCredit, Societe Generale, Alpha Bank,
Volksbank and Piraeus Bank) to reaffirm their commitments to support
their subsidiaries in the country