In January 2024, excess liquidity in the banking system of Moldova increased to 12.7 billion lei.
This is stated in the first Inflation Review this year published by the National Bank of Moldova. It notes that the excess liquidity indicator at the end of 2023 amounted to 9.4 billion lei, decreasing in the fourth quarter by 603.5 million lei compared to the previous quarter, but increasing by 4 billion lei compared to the situation at the end 2022. President of the National Bank of Moldova Anca Dragu, touching on the problem of excess liquidity, noted that its solution could be for this money to enter the economy in various ways, including through the Stock Exchange. According to her, it is necessary to put this money to work. The head of the NBM noted that now money, instead of getting into the real economy, is stored in the form of excess liquidity, and the National Bank would like this money, at least part of it, to reach the real sector of the economy. And for this, Moldova needs to have more lending mechanisms. Anca Dragu emphasized that the state’s availability of external sources of lending is not bad, as it allows it to maintain monetary policy. But if we talk about excess liquidity, the main question is how to increase domestic demand for loans and bring companies and the banking sector closer together. According to her, the solution is a more efficient domestic market. “The exchange can be such a solution,” said the NBM President. She emphasized that the National Bank will continue the dialogue with banks and companies so that the banking sector more dynamically fulfills its role as a financial intermediary. Anca Dragu noted that the problem of excess liquidity cannot be solved overnight and it is necessary to have a clear plan. “Overall we still see a very low level of financial intermediation, and non-state loans in relation to GDP are about 21%, and this is very low. The average for the European Union is about 90%. This means that billions are not returned and do not reach the economy. Financial intermediation must become more dynamic. We should not expect dramatic changes overnight because this will lead to other imbalances, but we must remember this and think through a number of measures to facilitate financial intermediation, that is, to make companies more bankable and banks more accessible. The stock market, of course, plays a certain role in this process, and the stock market has room to develop here,” she emphasized.// 14.02.2024 — InfoMarket.
