A mission of the European Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) led by Mr. Nikolay Gueorguiev will visit Chişinău during February 2-16, 2011.

During its stay, the mission will hold discussions with the authorities in the context of the second review of the Moldova’s program with the IMF under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangements.

The mission will take stock of the recent economic developments and program implementation, update assessment of the macroeconomic outlook, and discuss with the authorities macroeconomic and structural policies to foster macroeconomic stability and promote sustainable growth in the period ahead.

As usual, Mr. Gueorguiev will brief the press at the end of the visit.

 

Background: Moldova’s three-year IMF program, approved on January 29, 2010, is supported by a loan of SDR 369.6 million, of which SDR 120 million (about USD 180 million) have been already disbursed. The next loan disbursement of SDR 50 million (about USD 77 million) under the program will take place after the completion of the second program review. One half of the loan is provided under the Extended Credit Facility, which carries a zero interest rate until end-2011, a grace period of 5½ years, and a 10-year maturity. The rest of the loan is provided under the Extended Fund Facility, which carries an annual interest rate equal to the SDR basic rate of charge (currently 1.27 percent), and is repayable over 10 years with a 4½ -year grace period.