Johan Mathisen: Moldova's real sector likely to be stricken by world financial crisis if latter worsens

The permanent resident of the International Monetary Fund to Chisinau, Johan Mathisen, told a round table on Wednesday that a possible world financial crisis is likely to affect Moldova, and it will be felt by lower demand for Moldovan goods, but also through drops in foreign investments. “If the foreign companies have financial problems, there are big chances that they will not be able to invest,” he said. According to Johan Mathisen, in the wake of a possible world financial crisis, the immigrant workers will also have to suffer, as they will not find jobs since the construction and services sectors will slow down their operating, as these sectors are the most demanded on the labor market. The Moldovan currency and banking sectors have small changes to be affected by a possible world financial crisis. “There is a very low potential for a crisis in Moldova's currency system, since the National Bank has got enough currency reserves to keep the local currency market stable. No bank crisis is likely to appear in Moldova, since the Moldovan banking system started to integrated into the international circuit but recently, as the Moldovan banks have extra liquidity,” Johan Mathisen specified. The fact that the Moldovan banking sector is not coping with any crisis is proved by the growth of the loans offered – up 4.3 billion lei – what is 21.7%, says first deputy governor of the National Bank Victor Cebotari. According to him, two weeks ago, the Central Bank decided to lower the basic rate and the norm of compulsory reserves by 1.5 percentage points, what is thought to trigger smaller interests for deposits and credits.