Reinvigoration was seen on the lending market in the third quarter of this year. If the trend continues, this will give a particular boost to the national economy, said the governor of the National Bank of Moldova Octavian Armașu, who on Tuesday presented inflation report No. 4, IPN reports.
“We see the evolution of particular types of new loans. In the third quarter, primarily the consumer loans recovered. We finally see mortgage loans and trade following a positive trend. So, the process of revitalizing the three components started and this is a good sign. If the trend continues, this will give a particular boost to the national economy,” stated Octavian Armașu.
According to him, even if the NBM pursued a simulative monetary policy with rather low rates, particular processes that generate concerns as to dollarization are witnessed. “Dollarization, generically speaking, is a process when intermediation is changed from Moldovan lei to foreign currency. The people take out more loans in foreign currencies and make more deposits in foreign currencies. So, we see that the situation is more or less stable. There are particular fluctuations, but within the limits of normality,” explained the governor.
As to internal demand, Octavian Armașu said the transfers from abroad are a source for financing domestic consumption. But the remittances follow a downward trend. “First of all, that slowdown in economic growth in the European Union and the Eurozone is seen. But we see particular stability and we do not see rises in the social insurance budget expenditure. It is a stable growth of about 18-20% in nominal terms,” stated the governor.
According to the central bank, the current forecast is upset by the amplification of risks and uncertainty concerning global economy, primarily following the recent international developments. The intensification of geopolitical tensions could lead to a rise in prices of energy resources and would this way influence the rise in the yet attenuated demand. In the Eurozone, the energy crisis’ impact on industry diminished the expectations regarding economic growth. The differences between the interest rates and the rise in insurance premium will maintain the U.S. dollar appreciated against other freely convertible currencies. The quotations of food products will slightly decline further and will stabilize next year.
The consumer prices will slow down at least owing to a low domestic demand, tempering of prices in industry, recent reduction in charges and the effect of the last year’s high basis.
