The International Monetary Fund anticipates economic stagnation in the Republic of Moldova this year, said Minister of Labor and Social Protection Marcel Spatari. He noted the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war on the country’s economy is significant. However, Spatari stated the authorities are optimistic about the foreign financial assistance intended for the Republic of Moldova. He voiced hope that the whole international community will help Moldova overcome the difficulties, IPN reports.
Marcel Spatari said the war on the border and the regional security crisis have a major impact on the state budget. IMF is skeptical about the economic performance of Moldova this year.
“A lot of the commercial routers were redirected through Constanța from Odessa. The people react painfully to the felt shortage of particular goods, such as salt, even if there are alternatives to the supplies. The Republic of Moldova until now depended on particular Ukrainian products, but his does not mean that there are no alternatives that can be put to good use swiftly, like those in Turkey, Central and Eastern Europe. The impact is surely felt because all the land routes from Russia go through Ukraine and it is hard to secure exports. The economy will definitely be impacted. We had a meeting with the IMF and the forecasts are that we will have economic stagnation this year,” Marcel Spatari stated in the talk show “The Fourth Estate” on N4 TV channel.
However, the official said the Government banks on the foreign partners’ assistance in coping with the crisis. In the near future, Parliament will amend the state budget as neither the revenues nor the expenditure planned last year coincide with the new economic reality.
“We are optimistic about the foreign economic assistance that will be provided to deal with the challenges. The pensions will be indexed by a higher rate than it was projected last year. This will increase the people’s purchasing power. The story with energy prices cost us 2 billion lei. The €60 million offered by the EU came as budget support, but not only for providing subsidies, but also for strengthening the natural gas storage capacities, for ensuring energy interconnection with Romania,” stated Marcel Spatari.
On March 15, Romanian MEP Siegfried Mureșan announced that the allocation of EU macro-financial assistance of €150 million for Moldova was approved by the European Parliament’s Trade Committee. Out of this assistance, €30 million will be provided in grant funding.
