The World Bank, whose representatives have joined IMF and European Commission missions in Romania last week, sees significant progress in Romania towards the agreed reforms so far. The WB mentions the new Pension Law, which is already under debate in the Parliament, while the Fiscal Responsibility Law has been promulgated. “The implementation of a new unitary pay system has advanced and a representative sample of public sector jobs has already been evaluated under the supervision of the bi-partite Pay Commission. This will provide the basis for the drafting of the implementing legislation of the Unitary Pay Law, which is expected to be submitted to Parliament by September,” the World Bank said in a statement earlier today.

“The Bank is also working with the Ministry of Labor to ensure that the needed social assistance programs for the poor and vulnerable are consolidated, rationalized, well-targeted and have the appropriate coverage, while at the same time public resources are not wasted and the existing leakages from the social protection programs are reduced,” the World Bank has also said.

The World Bank team in Romania was led by Swati Ghosh, a lead economist in Europe and Central Asia region.

The Development Policy Loans (DPL) program, amounting EUR 1 billion, focuses on public financial management, the social sectors and the financial sector. The first Development Policy Loan, totaling Euro 300 million was approved by the Board of the World Bank on July 16, 2009, signed on September 1, 2009, and disbursed on October 20, 2009. The DPL reform agenda supports policy measures and structural reforms to achieve fiscal sustainability in Romania and uphold the recovery process, and closely complements programs supported by the IMF and the EU.