The loan granted by the National Bank of Moldova to the banks that are under special administration (Banca de Economii, Unibank and Banca Sociala) represents 3.5% of the GDP, which is about 4 billion lei, the central bank’s governor Dorin Dragutanu said in a news conference. He argued that the role of the National Bank is to ensure stability in the banking system and thus it took such a step, IPN reports.

“We intervened in order to calm things down and to ensure the protection of the private individuals and legal entities that deposited money at these banks,” said the governor. According to him, some of the indicators of the banking system last November, based on which the special administration was instituted at the three banks, were affected by a series of dubious transactions. For example, the volume of new loans provided in lei in the fourth quarter of the year rose two times compared with the similar period of 2013. “It was an artificial flow of financial resources. Banca Sociala released a double volume of loans – a real ‘warm-up’. The economy cannot take in such amounts,” stated Dorin Dragutanu.

He noted that the administrators named by the central bank presented reports on the measures taken to normalize the situation at these banks. These are to be analyzed. The famous foreign company Kroll will carry out a special investigation in order to determine where the money was transferred. When the investigation is completed, it will be possible to recover some of the money taken illegally out of the country.