The Importance of Banks During the Crisis, the Use of European Funds for Rural Areas

Romanian rural economy is dominated mainly by agriculture, whose dominant feature is the very high share of subsistence farms that produce mainly for self-consumption and less or not at all for the market. Given the dominance of the agricultural sector, rural economy is still very poorly integrated in market economy. In addition, subsistence farms have difficulties in accessing other income sources and this is why the living standard of a significant part of the rural population depends heavily in the farm profitability level. The Romanian banks were interested in the SAPARD program, the investment opportunities in the agro-food sector and in the overall investment climate in Romania. Taking into consideration that project proposals can be submitted for SAPARD financing program until the end of this year, attention starts to be focused on the structural funds that Romania will receive as a member state starting with 2007. Increasingly, its contribution to the development of agricultural production performance is correlated with adequate funding, development of the human resources, and with existence of the necessary equipment