March 12 (SeeNews) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it is disbursing $20 million (17.6 million euro) to Moldova under the current 40-month funding arrangements.
The IMF made the financing available to Moldova after its executive board completed the sixth and final review under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangements for the country approved in November 2016, the IMF said in a press release on Wednesday.
The new disbursement comes 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.
"Going forward, it is imperative that the authorities continue to pursue a prudent and well-coordinated policy mix, including structural reforms aimed at further strengthening the financial sector, a growth-friendly fiscal policy to increase infrastructure spending and support priority social expenditure while maintaining fiscal sustainability, and strengthening Moldova’s governance framework and institutions," IMF deputy managing director and acting chair, Mitsuhiro Furusawa, said.
According to the IMF, the growth-friendly 2020 budget is appropriate considering the significant infrastructure and developmental needs in Moldova. Also, the National Bank of Moldova’s (NBM) inflation-targeting regime remains appropriate.
"Looking ahead, addressing widespread governance and institutional vulnerabilities in Moldova will help boost the economy’s growth potential, and support an acceleration of its income convergence with the rest of Europe," Mitsuhiro Furusawa added.
Moldova's government said In a separate statement on Thursday that some 223 million lei ($13 million/11.3 million euro) of the new disbursement will go directly into the state budget, while the remainder will go to central bank accounts.
($ = 0.8832 euro)