Zagreb, September 1, 2014 –Mr. Carlos Piñerúa has been appointed as the new World Bank Country Manager for Croatia and Slovenia. Mr. Piñerúa, a Venezuelan national, brings years of managerial experience and vast country experience - spanning from Central and South America to Central Asia and the Middle East – to his new position. Most recently, Mr. Piñerúa was the Bank’s Country Coordinator for Private and Financial Sector Development Issues in Indonesia, overseeing the Bank’s largest advisory services team in this area. He also brings more than fifteen years of experience with the International Monetary Fund, where he served as Mission Chief and Advisor, coordinating technical assistance services to nearly 30 countries in the Middle East and Central Asia Department. Mr. Piñerúa is a macroeconomist by training and his expertise includes banking and financial sector issues and competitiveness.
In Croatia, Mr. Piñerúa’s main responsibility will be to manage the World Bank Group’s support to Croatia, as outlined in the Croatia Country Partnership Strategy - covering the period of July 2013-June 2017 and focusing on three key thematic areas. These areas include: providing assistance in improving public finances by supporting fiscal consolidation to speed up sustained growth - with an emphasis on expenditure rationalization to ensure fiscal sustainability over the medium-term; helping Croatia boost its competitiveness, centering on needed structural, institutional, and governance reforms, so that Croatia can catch up with its EU peers; and assisting Croatia in maximizing the economic benefits of becoming an EU member state by increasing the country’s capacity to implement harmonized policies, absorb the large increase in EU Funds, and help use these resources effectively.
In Slovenia, Mr. Piñerúa will focus on developing an advisory services program upon the formation of the new Slovenian government.
Since joining the World Bank in 1993, Croatia has benefited from financial and technical assistance, policy advice, and analytical services provided by the global development institution. To date, the World Bank has supported 51 operations, amounting to around US$3.5 billion, and has approved 53 grants totaling US$74 million.
