October 11 (SeeNews) - Moldova's economy is expected to stagnate in 2022, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday, revising its April forecast for 2% growth.
In 2023, the IMF expects Moldova's economic output to increase by 2.3%, the Fund said in the October 2022 edition of its World Economic Outlook report.
Moldova's current account deficit is forecast to drop to 12.4% of GDP in 2022, from 12.8% in 2021. In 2023, the current account gap is seen narrowing to 8.5%, according to the report.
Global economic activity is experiencing a broad-based and sharper-than-expected slowdown, with inflation higher than seen in several decades, according to the IMF. The cost-of-living crisis, tightening financial conditions in most regions, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the lingering COVID-19 pandemic all weigh heavily on the outlook, it added.
Moldova's economy contracted by an annual 0.6% in real adjusted terms in the second quarter of 2022 due to poor performance of the construction, manufacturing and real estate sectors, the statistical office said in September.
In 2021, Moldova's economy grew by 13.9% in real terms, following a 8.3% contraction in the previous year.
In August, Moldova's government revised its 2022 economic forecast to zero from 0.3% to reflect the economic spill-over effects of the war on Ukraine and the strong rise in energy prices.
(1 euro=18.8352 lei)