Limba romana

MOLDOVA MUST GET ITSELF BACK ON TRACK WITH IMF BY 
OCTOBER AT THE LATEST, DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER SAYS

Chisinau, June 26 (INFOTAG). In his interview to Reuters, Deputy
Prime Minister Andrei Cucu said that "the Moldovan authorities
are committed to seeking a swift recovery of the republic's ties
with the IMF, which have been very much up in the air ever since
the communist party took office following February 25
parliamentary elections".

He said the Moldovan government is seemingly in no position to
discharge its liabilities without deep-reaching external injections.

The IMF has been exercising a wait-and-see attitude towards
Moldova, whose leadership is reportedly determined to tighten
state regulation, if not resort to outright state monopoly, over
tobacco and alcohol markets, as well as set price caps on fuel
and erect trade barriers to protect the domestic market.
Nevertheless, the Prime Minister said, the government is willing
to hold a contest for controlling stake in Moldtelecom, a
State-run telecommunications monopoly, in August or September,
and announce the winner in six to nine months thereon.

In June the government also plans to embark on a set of
IMF-friendly moves, such as putting up for sale two State-owned
wineries and getting the parliament to pass a new Civil Code.
Among other issues that the government should focus on, Mr Cucu
said, is tightening tax regulations and having courts, not the
national bank, appraise the solvency of sickly banks and have
them go bankrupt if that proves to be the only option.

"We have continually reiterated to the IMF that we are committed
to collaborating with the fund in the framework of the Poverty
Reduction and Growth facility," Mr Cucu said.

The Poverty reduction and Growth facility, worth US $142 million
over three years, was suspended in May. Before that, the IMF had
disbursed US $24 million under this arrangement.

The IMF programme is one of rather high stakes itself. Also, on
its continuation depend a further $30 million being withheld by
the World Bank and $6.3 million in loans from the European
Union. Moldova's foreign debt rescheduling also hinges largely
on whether or not the IMF program gets going again and the
fund's disbursements are resumed. Of note here is the fact that
the state budget for 2001 counts heavily on this money, which
constitute a seventh part of it.

"We must fully meet the targets of the IMF programme by November
15 at the latest if we are to qualify for external loans in 2001
at all. But to achieve this end, we must first restore our ties
with the IMF," the Deputy Prime Minister reckoned.

BACKGROUND: Moldova acutely needs external injections if it is
ever to discharge its debt-servicing obligations. Moldova's
external debt is currently $760 million. This year US $81
million is due repayment in foreign debt servicing, with US $176
million, including outstanding eurobonds, and US $95 million
being due in 2002 and 2003, respectively. The government
contemplates refinancing the debt over 30 years with a 10 year
grace period at 0.75 percent interest rate. Another option would
be seeking a restructuring of Moldova's debt with the Paris club
of government creditors, a route that the Moldovan government
may have to follow soon enough.

A boost of a kind could be the fact that the republic's GDP is
forecast to grow by 5 percent in 2001. Manufacturing production
and agricultural output are forecast to grow at a rate of 5 and
8 percent next year.

VICEPREMIERUL ANDREI CUCU: MOLDOVA INTENTIONEAZA SA RESTABILEASCA RELATIILE CU FMI PINA IN LUNA OCTOMBRIE

Moldova intentioneaza sa restabileasca cit mai curind relatiile cu FMI, care au ramas in stare de suspensie dupa victoria Partidului Comunistilor in alegerile din 25 februarie 2001. Declaratii in acest sens a facut vicepremierul Andrei Cucu, responsabil in guvern de blocul de probleme economice. 
Vicepremierul a afirmat, intr-un interviu acordat agentiei Reuters, ca guvernul se afla in prezent in astfel de conditii, incit el nu isi poate onora angajamentele fara finantare externa. 

FMI se afla in prezent in expectativa fata de Moldova, a carei conducere intentioneaza sa instituie monopolul de stat asupra producerii si comercializarii bauturilor alcoolice si a tigarilor, sa reglementeze preturile la produsele petroliere si sa limiteze importul. Andrei Cucu a afirmat ca guvernul doreste sa organizeze in lunile august-septembrie un tender pentru a vinde 51 la suta din actiunile detinute de stat la Moldtelecom, cu participarea unui investitor strain, si sa identifice cistigatorul in cinci-sase luni. 

Guvernul intentioneaza, de asemenea, sa scoata la licitatie in luna iunie doua mari fabrici de vinuri si sa treaca prin parlament Codul Civil, sa perfectioneze legislatia fiscala si sa transmita hotarirea privind falimentul bancilor comerciale de la Banca Nationala instantelor de judecata. "Noi le spunem oficialilor de la FMI ca intentionam sa continuam cooperarea cu Fondul in cadrul Strategiei de eradicare a saraciei si de asigurare a unei cresteri economice", a afirmat Cucu. 

Aceasta strategie-cadru, pusa de acord in anul 2000, prevede acordarea de catre Fond Moldovei, pe parcursul a trei ani, noi credite de $142 mln. Pina in februarie 2001, Moldova a obtinut in cadrul programului doua transe in valoare totala de $24 mln. 

Cu programul FMI este corelata acordarea de catre Banca Mondiala a unor credite de $30 mln. si de Uniunea Europeana, in valoare de $6,3 mln., care deja au fost prevazute la capitolul venituri din bugetul pe anul 2001 si constituie a saptea parte din acesta. "Trebuie sa realizam programul cu Banca Mondiala cel tirziu pina la 15 noiembrie, pentru a obtine aceste mijloace in anul 2001. Pina atunci, trebuie sa fie restabilite relatiile cu FMI", a afirmat Andrei Cucu. 

Moldova are stringenta nevoie de banii creditorilor internationali pentru deservirea datoriei externe. Datoria externa totala a guvernului constituie $760 mln. In anul 2001, Moldova urmeaza sa cheltuiasca pentru deservirea datoriei $81 mln., iar in anul viitor - $176 mln., inclusiv $75 mln. pentru euroobligatii, in anul 2003 - $95 mln. Moldova analizeaza posibilitatea refinantarii datoriei in conditiile Asociatiei Internationale pentru Dezvoltare (pe un termen de 30 de ani, cu dobinzi de 0,75 la suta anual, cu o perioada de gratie de 10 ani). O alta cale ar fi restructurarea datoriilor catre Rusia, SUA, Italia, Romania, Japonia, Turcia si Germania in cadrul Clubului creditorilor de la Paris. Guvernul prognozeaza pentru anul 2001 o crestere de 5 la suta a PIB-ului si a productiei industriale, si de 8 la suta a productiei agricole. 

INFOTAG
26 iunie 2001