​IMF EXECUTIVE BOARD TO DISCUSS NEW FINANCING PROGRAM FOR MOLDOVA ON NOVEMBER 7

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund will discuss the new program of financing Moldova on November 7.

According to the National Bank of Moldova (NBM) press release, the government and the Bank have fulfilled all the preliminary conditions of the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies within the agreement between authorities of Moldova and IMF experts, signed on July 26, 2016.

As a result, the IMF Executive Board will meet on November 7 to discuss the new program on financing reforms in Moldova by means of the Extended Financing Facility (EFF) and the Extended Crediting Facility (ECF). The program worth about US$182.7 million (75% from Moldova’s quota in IMF), is designed for 3 years.

The new IMF program implies, among others, a fast improvement of management and supervision in the banking sector. In particular, the program has been directed to assessment and raising of the transparency of Moldovan commercial banks’ transparency. The monetary policy will still be directed on supporting the price stability within the context of the flexible exchange rate regime.

As Infotag has already reported, before, it was expected that the IMF program will be approved on October 19. Its presence will allow not only to get assistance from the IMF, but also to defrost external financing to Moldova from the side of other international partners, in particular the EU and the World Bank. In this case, Moldova may receive more than US$130 million until the end of 2016: the first tranche worth US$26 million from the IMF, US$45 million from the WB and 55 million euros from the European Union.

Infotag’s dossier: The previous three-year program of cooperation between Moldova and the Fund started on January 29, 2010 and was completed in April 2013. It implied financial assistance worth US$570 million of which Moldova has received only approximately US$90 million. The last tranche has not been transferred due to the Moldovan authorities’ failure to fulfill a number of Fund’s recommendations.