“The economic growth in Moldova this year may be lower than we earlier forecast, down to 3.5% – 4%,” Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Valeriu Lazar said during the presentation of the publication “Trends in Moldova’s Economy” that is produced by the Institute of Economy, Finance and Statistics. The data for nine months of 2011 show that the economic growth rate in the third quarter was slower. According to Valeriu Lazar, one of the reasons of this slowdown is the crisis faced by some of the partner countries of Moldova, mainly those from the EU, where the home demand for Moldovan exports decreased. The rise in the prices of energy resources on the international market is another cause. The slowdown can be further determined by such a factor as the poor offer of products and services for export. “Today our producers have access to the foreign markets, but the products proposed for export are not very diverse,” said the Deputy Prime Minister. Among the challenges of 2012, Valeriu Lazar mentioned the improvement of the fiscal and customs administration, the adjustment of the goods and services certification system to the European standards and the removal of the barriers to trade. “If we use the opportunities that will appear, the scenario may be more optimistic and the nominal economic growth of 3.5% will be by 1.5-2% higher. But there is also a negative scenario, according to which this indicator would be 2.6%,” said the minister of economy. Experts of the Institute of Economy, Finance and Statistics refrained from making forecasts for 2012, saying they will do it in April, after the National Bank presents all the data for 2011.