The International Monetary Fund will visit Moldova from Feb 14-28 in order to assess the progress of the current IMF 3 year program according to the IMF Resident Representative in Moldova, Armine Khachatryan. The multi-national entity authorized $176 million in November of 2016 and $35 million of this amount has already been released to Moldova.
Ben Kelmanson, the new head of the IMF mission for Moldova, which was replaced Ivanna Vladkovu-Hollar from January, will also be introduced to the country. Vladkova-Hollar was assigned to another post.
Two-thirds of the loan are provided through the Extended Credit Facility (ECF), which provides for a zero interest rate until the end of 2018, with a grace period of 5.5 years, and a maturity of 10 years. The remaining amount is provided through the Extended Fund Facility (the EFF), which provides for an interest rate equal to the SDR basic rate (currently 1.3% per annum), with a maturity of 10 years and a grace period of 4.5 years. // 02.02.2017, reports InfoMarket.
With the recent election of a pro-Russian government in late 2016, the IMF may be concerned about the country’s drift towards the Kremlin’s influence. Russian security services were said to be heavily involved in the election, tilting the result in Moscow’s favor.
