World Bank pledges additional EUR 750 million for Romania's healthcare and social assistance programs

The World Bank will offer Romania EUR 750 million for healthcare and social assistance programs, as well as deliver the third and last loan installment, of EUR 400 million, which should cover development policies. The World Bank approved the second loan installment in January, some EUR 300 million, which was initially scheduled for the first part of 2010, but was delayed due to failure to comply with the agreed measures. The bank's chief economist for Europea and Central Asia, Sudharshan Canagarajah, warned that Romania is facing difficulties in the agricultural sector and that the Romanian economy could become vulnerable on food pricing. He has also mentioned Romania's low rate of European Funds absorption. “Structural funds are an urgent problem. We all know Romania has EUR 19 billion available, but the absorbtion rate is among the lowest, of only 2 percent. We would like to know what are the areas where the Government can make rapid progress, one of them we identified already – it's the infrastructure,” said Canagarajah. editor@romania-insider.com