Government takes steps to support real sector

The Government intends to implement a number of measures to support the economic entities and the real sector of the economy, Info-Prim Neo reports. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Valeriu Lazar said the real sector suffered the consequences not only of the financial crisis, but also of the Communist government’s policies aimed at monopolizing particular segments of the market and imposing artificial barriers to business development. Lazar said some of the measures have been included in the economic recovery and stabilization program that will be presented at the executive’s meeting this week. “The loan guarantee fund for small and medium-sized enterprises turned out to be an efficient instrument. The allocations to this fund from the state budget have been small and we decided to increase them. It will also include attracted financial resources. We agreed with the development partners that the fund should be at least 100 million lei, i.e. about 10 million dollars. There are many people in rural areas who want to develop businesses, but do not have money and cannot secure a loan. We will help them and the small and medium-sized companies to get loans,” he said. According to Lazar, the Government plans to implement a program intended for those who come home from abroad and want to start a business. Many countries carry out such programs. “The state will help them develop businesses by giving 1 leu for every 1 leu invested by the given persons. A number of foreign donors agreed to provide the necessary financial resources.” The official also said that there will be created a development fund that will include all the revenues from privatization. “The Government will start privatizing property only when it is sure the privatization is transparent. The fund will also contain resources from donors and will be used to finance different investment projects, social infrastructure projects. After the economic recovery and stabilization program is approved, we will give details about the measures aimed at supporting the real sector. We want all the potential beneficiaries to know this information,” Valeriu Lazar said.