The World Bank may reclassify Slovakia from an aid recipient into a donor country by the end of this year, the SITA newswire wrote.
According to a document that the Slovak Finance Ministry submitted for interdepartmental review, successful recent macroeconomic development of the Slovak economy, as well as the expected euro adoption in 2009, was the impulse for the re-evaluation. Successful accomplishment of this process would lead to a classification as a developed economy.
One criterion is the per capita gross national income (GNI), which was $6,275 in 2006 and $7,950 in 2007. Slovakia will be required to pledge not to draw any new loans from the World Bank. Another criterion is sufficient access to the capital markets. The Finance Ministry points out that Slovakia has good access to the capital markets, while from the point of view of interest rates and demand of investors on the international capital market, it is more advantageous for Slovakia to borrow on the capital market and not from the World Bank.
The World Bank requires the countries aspiring for a change of status continue structural and institutional reforms. Finance Minister Ján Počiatek announced to the World Bank Vice-President last October that Slovakia expects to be considered a developed country by September or October 2008.
Of the countries in the former Eastern Bloc, Slovenia was reclassified in 2004, the Czech Republic in 2005, Estonia in 2006, Lithuania in 2006 and Hungary in 2007. SITA
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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