Tokyo, 12th October 2012 (MIA) – International Monetary Fund and World Bank are satisfied with the way Macedonia manages the European crisis and are ready to financially underpin the economic policies with EUR 250 million.
This was told today to the Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Zoran Stavreski, and Governor of the National Bank, Dimitar Bogov, by the high officials of the IMF and the World Bank within the Annual Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank, held in Tokyo this year.
– I am satisfied with the general assessment of IMF and World Bank that Macedonia manages the consequences from the European crisis well, and that the country does it in a better manner than the countries in the region. They especially underlined the fact that we keep low level of budget deficit and government debt, being one of the most burning issues in Europe. Resolving the issue of debt towards the companies was also positively assessed, Minister Stavreski said.
World Bank will also support Macedonian economy financially. As Vice Prime Minister Stavreski pointed out EUR 250 million will be extended by the beginning of next year inclusive through two major projects supported by the World Bank. At the meeting between the Vice Prime Minister and the Governor and World Bank Vice President Philippe Le Houérou, they discussed about direct budget support extended by the Bank in the amount of US$ 50 million to be received by the end of this year, as well as the guarantee from the World Bank for the funds Macedonia is to be extended by the commercial banks on the capital market in the amount of EUR 200 million, expected at the beginning of the next year.
– As a result of the sound economic policies, World Bank supports us with a guarantee which is to reduce the costs, i.e. the interest rate on these funds. At the beginning of the next year, it should be approved by the World Bank Board of Directors. This means that World Bank is to extend EUR 250 million to Macedonia under these two operations, however, there will also be other investment projects in the energy field, such as Lukovo Pole and other projects the World bank plans to support in Macedonia, Stavreski said.
Funds will be intended for financing the budget and for budget needs and improving liquidity in the economy.
– These funds will be used for budget execution in the course of the next year and they will be sufficient for regular servicing of all needs, which means that there is no other instrument to be used therefore. I believe regular budget revenues and these additional funds, which will be fresh foreign capital, are sufficient to cope well with all the challenges laying ahead, Stavreski said.
He added that Macedonian Government has been working for a longer period of time already according to the recipe put forward by IMF Chief Christine Lagarde today.
– We are putting efforts to secure sufficient amount of funds for capital investments in every budget. Next year, the budget which we are preparing now, will include more funds for capital investments, i.e. the maximum we, as a country, can afford, including funds for major infrastructure projects, such as Corridor 10, Rail Corridor 8 towards Bulgaria – section Kumanovo – Beljakovce, gasification, continuation of several projects related to regional roads. All this will help engage construction companies in Macedonia, as well as other industrial branches included in this process of construction.
IMF/WB Annual Meetings are an opportunity for the high officials in the field of finance to exchange opinions and experience on the global economic trends, as well as the national economic policies.
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