Moldova has no choice but to adhere to the agreement signed with the International Monetary Fund, as our low sovereign credit rating doesn’t allow the government to borrow from any other international bank, thinks analyst Victor Ciobanu.

Speaking at a talk-show on TV8, Victor Ciobanu said the IMF responds to a government’s request as a last-resort lender, when the country’s balance of payments is seriously in deficit and there’s really little alternative left. “It would be quite stupid not to get this money, which compared to commercial banks is offered at a very good interest, too. There’s really no dilemma and no alternative here”, said the expert.

Economist Alexandru Fala, program director at the ExpertGrup think-tank, said the IMF agreement doesn’t involve a particularly great amount of money actually. “One of the most important aspects of this IMF memorandum is that it represents a green light signal for other foreign donors to finance Moldova”.

“If we look at certain developments in recent years, we can see that public investment is strongly correlated with foreign investment. So, the foreign funds go largely to fund these public investments”, added Alexandru Fala.

In November 2016, the IMF approved a three-year agreement with Moldova to support the government’s economic and financial reform program. In particular, it offers a total amount of 129.4 million SDR – about $178.7 or 75 percent of Moldova’s quota with the IMF.