INDEPENDENT EXPERTS DOUBT IMF MISSION WILL SUCCEED IN MOLDOVA

Independent experts doubt that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission, about whose arrival the Government announced last week, will achieve success in Moldova.

Specialist of the Institute of European Policies and Reforms, economist Sergiu Tofilat said that no agreement will be signed with IMF in February.

“The first reason is that the new National Bank head has not been appointed so far, neither the earlier imposed conditions have been fulfilled. Western partners finally understood that to give money blindly, in absence of reforms, is a waste of time and money, which cannot lead to anything good. The clearest example of this is Greece. Money ends fast, the situation in economy and politics does not change, people’s standard of living keeps falling”, Tofilat said.

He supposed that the single alternative for Moldova is appearance of a new political class and permanent pressure on authorities from the civil society.

Executive Director of the Center for Strategic Studies and Reforms Galina Selari said that if the IMF experts’ visit takes place, a challenging search for consensus on political and economic situation in the country is lying ahead, including the consensus on the latter decisions about tariffs, the promised salary raising and many other things.

As for the possible signing of a Memorandum by the IMF and the Moldovan Government, the expert said that at the current stage there is no question of formalizing relations with the Fund.

“The decision to start a dialog about Moldova’s liabilities to the IMF mostly depends on how much the visions of the IMF expert team and the Moldovan authorities will coincide. We can suppose that the assessment, given by the IMF, will determine the decision of external partners, for example Romania, in what concerns the opportunity to support the country’s budget. The IMF does not sign anything. The Memorandum is our liabilities to the creditor. Unfortunately, today the Moldovan economy is being shaped by politics more than ever. Sometimes, the authorities simply lack time for economy; they act on the off-chance. But the problem is the ‘off-chance’ cannot be forecasted”, Galina Selari said.