For the Republic of Moldova, the agreement with the International Monetary Fund is a key one and the relations with the development partners and the atmosphere inside the country depend on this accord, Prime Minister Pavel Filip said in a meeting with the IMF mission led by Ivanna Vladkova-Hollar on May 23, IPN reports.

According to the Government’s press service, the Premier expressed his gratitude to the IMF officials for the prompt answer and their readiness to continue the continue the policy dialogue and advance the discussions on the reform measures put forward by the Government and the National Bank of Moldova as critical inputs towards a broader program agenda.

In this connection, Pavel Filip reiterated the Government’s determination to advance the reforms and to change Moldova’s image, restoring the confidence of the development partners and the people. Among the top priorities, the Premier mentioned the reform of the financial-banking sector, the justice sector reform, the implementation of the anticorruption strategy and creation of an attractive and competitive business environment.

Pavel Filip informed about the steps taken by the Government since the last visit made by the IMF for making progress in the three main directions. At the first stage, there was stabilized the financial situation so that the pensions and salaries could be paid on time. The dialogue with the European partners was restored by continuing implementing the Association Agreement and working out a roadmap with short-term commitments. To improve the business environment, a moratorium was instituted on state inspections. There were ‘guillotined’ 169 departmental documents of the Customs Service and eliminated about 100 authorizing documents.

For her part, Ivanna Vladkova-Hollar confirmed the IMF’s readiness to continue the dialogue on the economic policies, saying the current visit is a first step towards negotiating a new program with the IMF. According to her, the mission will analyze the latest developments in the financial-banking sector.

The IMF representative underlines the importance of strengthening the banking regulation framework and ensuring the operational independence of the banking regulators. Among the main problems that need to be dealt with are the exclusion of interference of justice in banking supervision and regulation, ensuring of beneficial ownership transparency in the banking sector and establishment of risk management mechanisms by commercial banks.

The IMF mission led by Ivanna Vladkova-Hollar is visiting Chisinau during May 23 – 27, 2016. The experts will have a number of meetings, including with the administration of the National Bank, the National Commission for Financial Markets, the Ministry of Finance and with managers of commercial banks.