Brussels, 08/11/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 8 November, the European Investment Bank (EIB), the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) launched a new Joint Action Plan to support economic recovery and growth in Central and South Eastern Europe. The Action Plan for 2013-2014 is a direct response to the continuing impact of eurozone problems on the economies of emerging Europe and includes more than €30 billion of joint commitments for 2013-2014.
This initiative is modelled on the successful Vienna Initiative, a 2009-2010 Joint IFI Action Plan that supported Central European economies affected by a liquidity crisis in the financial and corporate sector. The programme announced today is different in several respects. Notably the financing will specifically underpin growth by supporting economic restructuring, consolidation and diversification, as well as enhancing long term competitiveness through increased availability of long term credit, but also using injections of equity “where necessary and possible,” mobilising export trade finance and supporting policy reform.
The EIB has pledged a minimum of €20 billion, mainly in the form of long-term loans addressing priority areas such as SMEs, renewable energy and energy efficiency, innovation and convergence. The World Bank will provide €6.5 billion and the EBRD €4 billion. The beneficiary countries are Albania, Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Estonia, Macedonia, Hungary, Kosovo, Lithuania, Latvia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia. (OL/transl.fl)