NBM official reserve assets reached $916m

The official reserve and other foreign currency assets of the National Bank of Moldova (NBM) topped USD 916 million as of July 13. By the end of July official reserve assets stood at USD 872.52 million, increasing by USD 103.23 mln (13.3%) compared with the start of the year. In late December 2006 NBM official currency reserves made up USD 775.29 million. Once the new USD 33.1 mln loan from IMF is disbursed, the NBM reserve assets will ad up to about USD 950 mln. The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund approved the cooperation agreement with Moldova, enabling the central bank to increase its reserve assets. On 5 May 2006 IMF’s Executive Board approved the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) arrangement with Moldova in the total amount of about USD 118.5 mln, the first instalment of which – about USD 17 mln – was transferred to the National Bank of Moldova in mid-May 2006. On 15 December 2006 IMF’s Executive Board approved an increase in the size of the loan to about USD 167 mln. The second disbursement was approved for an amount equivalent to about USD 48.2 mln. Experts forecast that by the end of the year the NBM reserve assets will reach USD 1 million thanks to financing from IMF and absorption of currency surplus on the domestic market.