The annulment of a law whose primary objective was to protect the public interest in maintaining financial stability is a very worrisome signal for the development partners, local and foreign investors, endangering Moldova’s credibility as regards its capacity to honor the financial obligations, said the governor of the National Bank of Moldova Octavian Armași, commenting on the annulment of the “billion law” that is officially called the law on the issuing of state bonds for the Ministry of Finance to fulfill the payment obligations deriving from the state guarantees, IPN reports.
“The execution of the state guarantee and avoidance of the central bank’s de-capitalization by issuing state securities are aimed at maintaining the financial stability of the Republic of Moldova, being an element for safeguarding the financial-banking system requested by the International Monetary Fund,” the governor stated within an interview for the press.
Octavian Armașu warned that any attempt to withdraw the commitments undertaken by the state for safeguarding the financial-banking system by laws or public messages and any eventual approach to review the effects of these commitments can not only destroy the confidence of Moldova’s development partners, but can also reduce to a minimum the country rating. This way, the efforts made the last few years to reform a number of segments, which generated a number of renowned foreign strategic investors’ interest in Moldova, risk now to be annihilated, while the investment decisions could be put off for an indefinite period. The country risks losing its credibility before the donors that supported Moldova until now by essential financial contributions, especially for the national economy and, respectively, for each citizen apart. Also, the fulfillment by the National Bank of its duty to ensure and maintain the stability of prices in the medium term can be under pressure.
According to Octavian Armașu, efforts should be concentrated on the recovery of the money stolen from banks so that the state could fulfill its commitment and the country’s economy and the people are not put in danger.
Two days ago, the MPs annulled the so-called “billion law”, adopting a relevant proposal submitted by the Socialists. Earlier, this law represented a solution by which the state could cover the equivalent of US$ 1 billion stolen within the banking fraud committed six years ago. The key players of this theft haven’t been yet penalized, while the stolen funds haven’t been recovered.
