Industrial sector in Moldova is still regressing – Business and Economy magazine

The economy in Moldova did not register, in October-November, noticeable results, while the industrial sector on the whole continues being in deep recession, shows the Business and Economy magazine, issued by the Independent Analytical Center “Expert-Grup”. According to experts, the single important branches in which the negative dynamics from September went up are: manufacture of sugar and confectionary products. In October it was reported a 4% decrease in agricultural production. At the same time, the service providing sector continued its dynamic increase, a fact to a great extent determined by the field of telecommunications and sales of electrical appliances. The public budget is further favored by the intense consumption that guarantees high revenues resulted from VAT and excises. In the bank sector the deposits in national currency have for the first increased in April, while those in foreign currency rose even more, exceeding by over 50% the total system volume. The nominal interests on credits and deposits continued increasing in October-November, encouraged by inflation anticipations of the people and banks. The rise in rate of the state bonds, from 8.3% in September to 9.1% in October, also influenced to a certain extent the interests of bank credits. The currency market in October-November is characterized by an increase of US dollar against MD Leu. In October, the National Bank of Moldova bought over USD 30 million on domestic currency market, bringing USD 674 million to the official currency reserves. The efficiency indicators of foreign trade did not register increases. The trade deficit in the first ten months exceeded USD 1.25 billion, that is more than it was reported in 2005. The local prices on the whole continue being high (rate of inflation constituting 1.6%), despite an insignificant cut in fuel. In October, average salary per economy decreased, while the real cumulative increase from the beginning of the year remains positive. The rate of unemployment in the third quarter was very low (5.4%), while the rate of employment is apparently increasing.