The IMF and other international partners are ready to provide Moldova with additional financing to reduce the impact of the crisis.
This was stated by the head of the International Monetary Fund Mission Ruben Atoyan at a joint press conference on Friday with Moldovan Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita. He noted that the impact of the war in Ukraine on Moldova's economy will be significant, and there are many mechanisms to transfer these shocks, including through energy, trade and financial relations with the affected countries. The head of the IMF mission stressed that all this is happening in an already difficult context, amid the pandemic, high level of inflation, which was even before the war in Ukraine, high energy prices. "This is a very difficult context and additional pressure on the Moldovan economy and government," Ruben Atoyan said. At the same time, he called it positive that Moldova entered the crisis with a strong position. "You entered this difficult situation with strong shock absorbers, including a low level of public debt, which is very important. Moldova has high budget reserves accumulated in the government's accounts, which provide great room for maneuver. Moldova also has high foreign exchange reserves. Importantly, Moldova has a strong, resilient banking system, thanks to earlier reforms. All of this allows Moldova to create a strong policy package that will minimize the impact of the crisis. The new IMF program approved earlier also provides an additional safety net. But the current crisis requires additional funding. The IMF and other international partners are ready to support Moldova with additional funding. During the current mission, we are holding discussions to identify additional funding needs, assess financial problems and identify additional funding. We are confident that additional support from the IMF and other partners will help Moldova reduce the impact of the crisis on citizens and the economy, to help manage the flow of refugees from Ukraine," the IMF mission chief said. Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita said the government is in discussions with the IMF to assess macroeconomic and fiscal indicators, and depending on the cost of agreed policies and the difference in financing, Moldova will ask for additional amounts from both the IMF and the EU, WB and other partners. "We have agreed on the need for additional financing, there are preliminary amounts, but we will report them after they are agreed," the head of the Cabinet said. // 11.03.2022 - InfoMarket
