Foreign backers will provide substantial support to Moldova's budget in 2010

Among the major foreign providers of grants to support the budget next year willl be the European Commission – €81 million, the Government of the Netherlands – €3.5 million, and the British Government – €1 million, Info-Prim Neo reports. The World Bank will allocate about US$33 million for projects financed from foreign resources, while the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria – US$7.8 million. The draft budget law for 2010 approved by the Government provided for total grants of 2.67 billion lei. The internal grants amount to 18 million lei. The foreign grants this year are projected to total over 2 billion lei, which is 3.2% of the GDP. The value of the grants is over two times higher than a year before. Minister of Finance Veaceslav Negruta said the grants for supporting the budget will be 1.53 billion lei (€88.5 million), while those for implementing projects financed from foreign resources – 517 million lei (US$41 million).