The Banker: Romanian awarded Finance Minister of the Year in Europe, joining Colombia, Qatar, Senegal

Romanian Finance Minister Gheorghe Ialomitianu (in picture) got the Finance Minister of the Year in Europe award from The Banker magazine for the results of the structural reforms in Romania and the control over fiscal sustainability and fiscal legislation.

The magazine praises Ialomitianu for keeping up with the plans established with the International Monetary Fund and for not having to draw any more funding from the IMF. He managed to steer the country's finances ship during a tough year: public pay cuts, an increase in VAT, international turbulences. “A lesson which should be learnt from the international economic crisis is that politicians must take decisions more firmly, if such decisions can reduce the effects of this crisis and avoid slippages which generate macroeconomic imbalances. Let us not forget that in certain member states, the postponement of taking such decisions led to much harsher subsequent measures,” says Ialomitianu, quoted by The Banker. Ialomitianu became the country's Finance Minister in 2010. He is an accountant and finance auditor and started his career as an economist at a factory in Brasov, Romania. Before becoming a Finance Minister, he was a teacher at the Transilvania University in Brasov. The Romanian joins Juan Carlos Echeverry, finance minister of Colombia, who got the Finance minister of the Year, Americas award, Yousef Kamal, finance minister of Qatar – who received the Finance minister of the Year for the Middle East and Abdoulaye Diop, finance minister of Senegal, the winner of the award for Africa. Read more about why The Banker chose Ialomitianu for this award. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: Romanian Government)