Annual inflation rate in Moldova is declining, and by the end of this year, it may return to the NBM's target range and be below 6.5% - Anca Dragu
Governor of the National Bank of Moldova (NBM) said this in an interview with Agerpres, noting that Moldova experienced an inflationary shock at the beginning of 2025 caused by prices on the international energy market, but is currently in the process of disinflation. Anca Dragu emphasized that the National Bank has begun measures to ease monetary policy and recently lowered the base rate applied to main short-term monetary policy operations to 6% per annum for the second time this year. "At the beginning of this year, in January, we had an inflation shock, which was also related to energy prices. This was, in fact, the final stage of the energy market reform in Moldova. Yes, we had inflation growth in the first half of the year, but now inflation is on a downward trend. We are in the process of disinflation and expect that by the end of the year, the inflation rate will enter the target inflation corridor, that is, it will fall below 6.5%, which is the upper part of this corridor," said the head of the NBM. According to her, in addition, for 2026, the National Bank expects the inflation rate to remain within the target range, i.e., conditions will be created in terms of price dynamics and inflation that will ensure a balanced model of economic growth. Anca Dragu emphasized that Moldova's banking system is very stable, well capitalized, and has very high liquidity. According to her, all these indicators exceed the limits set by the NBM. This means that there are opportunities for business expansion and growth in financial intermediation, and the National Bank is closely monitoring financial stability to ensure that banks maintain reserves in their balance sheets that can withstand any shocks. "In this way, we ensure that capitalization in the banking system, on the one hand, ensures growth in activity and, on the other hand, creates a safety cushion in case of possible shocks. In fact, our high level of mandatory reserves is also a safety cushion. We are trying to lower the reserve requirement ratio precisely in order to leave more money in the market for business and create a safety cushion for the entire banking system," said the head of the NBM. // 22.09.2025 – InfoMarket.
