The National Employers Confederation of Moldova calls upon the Government to immediately adopt a national anti-crisis plan. In a news conference at IPN on February 23, the Confederation’s chairman Leonid Cerescu said the national currency has depreciated by 26% against the euro and by 34% against the dollar so far this year. This process must be stopped. The businessmen, banks and decision makers must make use of all the available instruments in order to calm things down and not to allow speculations on the currency market.
“We call on the Prime Minister of Moldova to immediately convene the National Committee on Financial Stability, whose task is to ensure appropriate coordination between the public authorities in case of extraordinary financial shocks. We call upon the Government to start to work out a national anti-crisis plan,” stated Leonid Cerescu.
The Confederation’s first deputy chairman Alexandru Slusari said that owing to the oscillations on the currency market, the loans grew dearer. After the National Bank raised the refinance rate, the banks refuse to release loans and this affects the farmers. The authorities should help the farmers repay the loans and can decide that the loans should be repaid at the exchange rate used when the loan was granted. The farmers are also affected by the rise in the prices of products they use in their work, including seeds, fuel and fertilizers.
According to Igor Crapivca, deputy chairman of the Confederation, the recent strengthening of the leu will not immediately lead to declines in the prices of products that grew dearer following the depreciation of the national currency. Both for private individuals and for economic entities, the optimal exchange rate would be 15-16 lei per dollar and 17.5-18 lei per euro.
The Confederation’s executive director Dinu Armasu called upon the authorities to find out the causes of the crisis so as to avoid such situations in the future.
The National Employers Confederation on February 27 stages a roundtable meeting in a move to identify the elements that destabilize the situation on the currency market and the immediate risks and to formulate the policies needed to overcome the crisis.
