Moldova is returning under difficult conditions to economic growth after the 2022 recession – the NBM.
Octavian Armasu, Governor of the National Bank of Moldova (NBM) stated this in an interview with Agerpres, noting that he is referring first of all to the regional, but also to the global context. "Again the matter concerns the same war in Ukraine, which is in close proximity and has an impact on the Moldovan economy. We are talking about the slowdown in the European Union, in the eurozone. The European Union is our most important market, and, accordingly, it influences the demand for our products. In this context, economic recovery should be strongly supported by both monetary and fiscal policy. With regard to monetary policy, we have recently taken another step to ease monetary conditions. We have lowered the base rate further and eased required reserves to provide easier access and cheaper money for economic agents and households to support consumption. At the same time, we also expect on the fiscal side a fiscal stimulation of the economy," the head of the National Bank of Moldova said. While asked how important the independence of the National Bank's decisions in this process is, Octavian Armasu said that the National Bank's independence is crucial, because the monetary policy decisions are always difficult; they are always painful and never pleasant. "We went through this inflationary cycle with a lot of criticism, but in the end we went along with the agenda we proposed and achieved our goals despite all the criticism. Had it not been for an independent Central Bank, we would not have been able to implement these instruments. At the same time, besides independence, close coordination of monetary policy and fiscal policy, cooperation between the National Bank and the Ministry of Finance is important. When there is such coordination, the effects of both policies become more pronounced, synergy between the two policies appears, and the economy responds better to the policies promoted by the two institutions," the NBM Governor said. // 21.11.2023 – InfoMarket
