​IMF BOARD MEETING WILL TAKE PLACE AFTER MOLDOVA HAS MET ALL ITS PREVIOUS COMMITMENTS – ARMINE KHACHATRYAN

A date for the meeting of the IMF Executive Board on approving a new cooperation program with Moldova will be set following the implementation of all prior actions by the Moldovan Government, reads the Press Statement issued by Armine Khachatryan, IMF Resident Representative in the Republic of Moldova, on Thursday evening.

The document said that on July 26, 2016 an IMF mission reached a staff level agreement with the Moldovan authorities on a three-year economic reform program that could be supported by the IMF.

“Since then, the Moldovan authorities have made a significant progress in implementing the agreed prior actions needed for the IMF Executive Board to consider the program. A date for the meeting of the Executive Board will be set following the implementation of all prior actions”, said the Press Statement.

According to Armine Khachatryan, “No postponements have been made”.

Moldovan Prime Minister Pavel Filip stated earlier this week that the new Program would be approved by the IMF Board at its meeting on October 19. But as the approval failed to take place on that day, a governmental source said to Infotag that there would be no such approval before the end of October.

The source said that, most probably, the document would be approved in the second half of November – after the second round of the presidential election in Moldova [November 13], when the name of the new President will be known.

Minister of Finance Octavian Armasu stated to Infotag categorically the question of the Program signing with the IMF has no relation to the presidential election.

“We should arm ourselves with patience. The three-year Program of cooperation between the Government and National Bank of Moldova and the International Monetary Fund will be signed very soon”, said the minister.

As already reported by Infotag, the Program is designed to work 3 years. It stipulates inter alia financial assistance to the country in the amount of US$180 million. The availability of such a program with the Government permits to de-frost the external financing of Moldova, which was suspended in mid-2015.