An assessment mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will arrive in Moldova in February 2017. The announcement was made in a meeting of Prime Minister Pavel Filip and Ivanna Vladkova-Hollar, head of the IMF mission of experts who visited Chisinau.

The Premier said that after the signing of the agreement with the IMF, the EU unlocked financing for Moldova. Thus, Moldova will get €45 million in budget support by the end of this year and another €100 million in macro-financial assistance later, including €40 million as a grant. Besides ensuring access to financing, the accord with the IMF is also a confidence certificate and the Government is now more mobilized and determined to continue doing reforms.

A priority reform agenda until 2018 was thought up for the purpose. Pavel Filip referred especially to the pension system reform. He also spoke about the reform of the public administration, whose goal is to make the public administration ‘slender’, but with increased powers and with higher salaries.

Ivanna Vladkova Hollar said the IMF supports these reforms in principle, but a more detailed strategy should be worked out so that it is discussed within the first program assessment. She welcomed the efforts made by the Ministry of Finance and the National Bank of Moldova to stabilize the situation in the financial sector, saying more measures should be taken in this regard and the relevant steps should be continued.