Brussels, 23/07/2010 (Agence Europe) - In Brussels on Thursday 22 July, the member organisations of the European Bank Coordination Initiative (European Commission, IMF, EBRD, EIB, etc) held two regular meetings to stake stock of the economic situations in Hungary and Romania. These meetings were attended by representatives of the main banking groups established in the two countries.
In the case of Hungary, the meeting allowed the European Commission and the IMF to present the preliminary results of their joint mission to assess the macroeconomic situation in the country. The participants expressed their wishes for the rapid resumption of talks on the creation of a temporary tax on the Hungarian bank sector, the Commission reported in a press release.
As for Romania, those taking part voiced their satisfaction that foreign banking groups had maintained their exposure in the country at a similar level to 2009. A number of banks are in fact planning to increase their exposure in Romania in the coming months, which will promote economic upturn. The participants reiterated the importance of speeding up the absorption of European structural funds and the increased involvement of the private sector in this field. At the end of July, the Commission and the IMF will visit Budapest to carry out a follow-up mission to the multilateral assistance programme. The European Bank Coordination Initiative, which was launched in Vienna in January 2009, aims to develop a coordinated approach, to encourage foreign banks with exposure in central and eastern Europe not to liquidate their positions or repatriate their capital, a situation which would harm the economy of the region. (M.B./transl.fl)