ABSTRACT
Romania became the fifth avowedly Communist state to join the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, but at the time of Romania's entrance into both organizations in 1972, only one other Communist state, Yugoslavia, remained. Romania's economic structure and policies are excellent examples in many ways of a typical socialist economy found in a Communist country. The Romanian economy has been described as "one of the most tightly controlled and centrally directed economies in Eastern Europe." In terms of development strategy, Romania, like other members of the Soviet bloc, chose a strategy of extensive development. Romania's economic independence was accompanied by an everincreasing political independence. The minuscule private sector of the Romanian economy benefited from some relaxation of control which permitted private businesses to hire labor at a fixed minimum wage. A slight shift occurred in Romania's foreign policy as a result of its economic problems.
