July 7 (SeeNews) - In SeeNews story "Moldova to start talks on new three-year IMF programme" dated July 3, please read in the first paragraph, "An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission will remotely hold discussions with Moldovan authorities starting July 7 in order to negotiate..." instead of, "An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission will arrive in Moldova on July 7 to negotiate..." (Corrects to make clear that no IMF team will arrive in Moldova as it will be a remote mission.)
Please, also read in the second paragraph, "The mission led by Ruben Atoyan will remotely hold discussions from the IMF Headquarters in Washington, D.C. with Moldovan authorities between July 7-22..." instead of "The mission led by Ruben Atoyan will visit Moldova between July 7-22..." (Corrects to make clear that the negotiations will be held remotely.)
A corrected version follows:
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission will remotely hold discussions with Moldovan authorities starting July 7 in order to negotiate a new three-year programme, IMF's Resident Representative in Moldova Volodymyr Tulin said.
The mission led by Ruben Atoyan will remotely hold discussions from the IMF Headquarters in Washington, D.C. with Moldovan authorities between July 7-22, Tulin said in a press statement published on IMF's website on Thursday.
"In response to the request from the authorities, the mission will hold discussions with the Moldovan authorities on a new three-year program focused on a comprehensive set of policies that would help maintain macroeconomic stability, support post-pandemic recovery, advance governance and institutional reforms, and mobilize external financing," Tulin said.
Discussions will also focus on safeguarding the central bank's independence, improving fiscal and financial sector governance, strengthening the anti-corruption framework, and rule of law, he added.
In April, the IMF approved a total disbursement of $235 million (216 million euro) to meet Moldova’s urgent balance of payment needs stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Moldova’s macroeconomic outlook has deteriorated sharply, giving rise to an urgent balance of payments gap estimated at about $830 million, the IMF said at the time.
On March 11, the IMF said it is disbursing $20 million to Moldova under the current 40-month funding arrangements approved in November 2016.
The new disbursement came as a result of the progress Moldova has made in keeping its reform commitments and brings total disbursements under the arrangements to support the country’s economic and financial reform programme to about $178.7 million.
The IMF said in April that Moldova's economy will shrink by 3% in 2020 and then rise by 4.1% in 2021.
($ = 0.8906 euro)