​NBM LOWERS BASE RATE TO 9% FROM 9.5%

The National Bank of Moldova Executive Committee has unanimously voted for lowering the base rate to 9.0% from 9.5% at the Thursday’s meeting.

NBM Governor Sergiu Cioclea said at the press conference that the lowering of the base rate is due to the decline in the level of inflation, whose annual rate (September 2015-September 2016) accounted for 3%.

The NBM president pointed at the fact that the base rate fell by more than 10% year to date. However, Cioclea said that the regulator cannot run after the level of the falling inflation, keeping in mind that there are inflation risks in 2017.

The banker pointed at the necessity to conduct by the NBM of an efficient monetary and currency policy, which would support the development of the economy’s real sector. In this connection, Cioclea said that there is no direct connection with the lowering of the base rate and the interest rate on credits.

“This year, though the base rate fell by more than 10%, the credit rate declined slightly more than by 2%”, he said.

Answering to journalists’ questions, the NBM governor said that the temporary administration in the Moldindconbank was a shock neither for clients, nor for depositors of this financial institution.

According to Cioclea, all the NBM actions are aimed at achieving transparency in MICB shareholder structure, which according to the procedures provided by the legislation, will pass into hands of a strategic and quality investor and will continue its development in the Moldovan market.