The International Monetary Fund supports the independence of the National Bank of Moldova (NBM). At the same time, even if it is an independent institution, the NBM can be held accountable for what it does, said IMF Resident Representative in Moldova Rodgers Chawani. He noted that besides the basic program, the IMF offered Moldova US$260 million that is necessary for coping with shocks caused by the war in Ukraine, IPN reports.
After the war broke out in Ukraine, the IMF agreed with the Moldovan authorities to increase the financial assistance by US$260 million, the total value of the loan rising to US$800 million. Instead, the IMF expects the Moldovan authorities will do reforms and will support the vulnerable sections of the population.
“Besides coping with the faced shocks, we expect the authorities will continue the reforms in such fields as fiscal policies, improvement of the business climate, fight against corruption and money laundering. We, those from the IMF, care a lot about aspects that refer to social protection. For us, it is important that the Government should offer support to the socially deprived groups. With financial support, the authorities can alleviate the impact of the crisis on the vulnerable citizens who now experience the most difficult times,” the IMF Resident Representative in Moldova Rodgers Chawani stated in the program “Thursday with Liliana Barbăroșie” on the public TV channel.
The official also said that the National Bank of Moldova is an independent institution and this independence enabled it to attenuate the shocks caused by the war in Ukraine.
“The International Monetary Fund always promoted an independent central bank. We promote this exactly for the reason we experience now. If the central bank is independent, it keeps the capital and can cope with chocks. If it had been discredited, it would have been unable to deal with shocks caused by the war in Ukraine. If it hadn’t had resources, we would have now spoken about enormous pressure on the exchange rate that would have destabilized the economy. To our mind, the NBM is independent. However, even if it is independent, it should be held accountable for what it does,” said Rodgers Chawani.
On Thursday, the parliamentary opposition announced the initiation of the procedure for dismissing the governor of the National Bank. According to Deputy Speaker Vlad Batrîncea, the administration of the central bank served foreign interests. “Even if the country is in a crisis, the revenues of commercial banks have grown,” stated Vlad Batrîncea.
