April 5 (SeeNews) - The EU is ready to unlock a macro-financial assistance grant of 100 million euro ($106.5 million) for Moldova if it sees real efforts to reform the country, European Parliament member Siegfrid Muresan said.
The Committee on Budgets of the European Parliament approved on Tuesday the financial assistance plan for Moldova aimed to help the state to fund its current costs and to stabilize its economy, European Commission rapporteur for Moldova and MEP for Romania Siegfrid Muresan said.
At his request, the European Commission will condition the funding for the Republic of Moldova on the results in fighting corruption and strengthening the rule of law.
The final vote in the European Parliament on the proposal is scheduled to take place in May.
"I want the money to to go as soon as possible to Moldova, but I also wanted to make sure that the financial support granted by the European Union to the country is well used, that the reforms which people expect are implemented and that results will be felt by the citizens. This is why, I requested this money to be granted strictly conditional on real results," the MEP said.
The money will be disbursed in three tranches in 2017 and 2018, as before receiving each tranche the Moldovan government must implement reforms aimed at consolidating economy and democracy in Moldova.
Moldova's economy expanded by 4.1% in real terms in 2016, mainly on the back of successful performance of the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector. However, its end-2016 foreign debt figure was equivalent to 97.7% of its 2016 GDP of $6.59 billion.
At the end of February, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised Moldova's economic growth forecast for this year to 4.5% from 3%, and said that it was considering providing a $21.2 million loan under an existent three-year credit facility.
In March, the European Commission said in a joint report with the European External Action Service that Moldova needs to improve the rule of law and business environment, which is still affected by endemic corruption as well as inconsistent policy-making.
Only 10% of Moldovans think that corruption levels in their country have dropped over the last four years, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said in December in its Life in Transition Survey.
($= 0.9387 euro)