Most of the people were affected by the fluctuations on the financial-banking market and not many will want to save money in lei in the immediate period. The recent depreciation of the national currency was caused by the lack of confidence in the banking system, which made the people exchange the last lei for euros or dollars, considers program director at the independent think tank “Expert-Grup” Dumitru Budeanschi. He made such statements in the talk show “Place for dialogue” on the public station Radio Moldova, IPN reports.
The expert said the problems in the banking sector appeared in 2013, when the raider attacks that struck the sector were managed superficially. “The raider attacks remained unsolved as a problem and many had the feeling that they will repeat. This was the first signal that the banking sector is not as powerful as it seemed,” stated Dumitru Budeanschi.
The expert noted he is skeptical about the results of the parliamentary commission of inquiry into the situation in the financial-banking sector, but this commission can recommend the National Bank of Moldova to amend the legislation on the banking sector and to regulate the difference between the selling and purchasing prices of currency. “Competition is the general problem of the banking sector. It’s impossible to explain how a currency exchange facility that does not have lei and foreign currency can work for half a day. The central bank could have intervened to bring things in order,” he stated.
According to Budeaschi, the National Bank’s decision to raise the basic interest rate on loans in lei will lead to reduced access to the loans, while those who already took out loans will find it difficult to repay them. The situation of farmers will also be difficult and the state could extend the mechanism for subsidizing the interest. Such a measure is in fact necessary for the whole national economy.
In the same connection, political commentator Roman Mihaies said that Moldova is a state in transition and the currency crisis revealed the weak points of the banking sector. “The commission constituted by Parliament will have to answer a difficult question – did some of the banks agree to allow the speculations that led to the depreciation of the leu? I do not exclude that the banks made huge profit. They discuss a lot the necessity of transparency in the banking sector, but we should not forget that Moldova is a country with low salaries and we depend a lot on the exchange rate. The sudden appreciation of the foreign currency leads to a social catastrophe. The Government should propose regulatory measures so that the central bank can set the exchange rate margin for the commercial banks,” he stated.
Within a telephone call, Liberal-Democratic MP George Mocanu, secretary of the parliamentary commission of inquiry into the situation in the financial-banking sector, said the situation on the currency market stabilized and the object of the examination disappeared. “During two weeks, the commission will question all the decision makers involved. It’s important to determine if the changes were speculative or natural and if the National Bank fulfilled its duties,” he stated.
