IMF, MOLDOVA COULD SIGN NEW CREDIT AGREEMENT IN OCTOBER

Chisinau-26.07.2000/(BASA-press) The first tranche of a new
International Monetary Fund (IMF) credit could be offered to
Moldova until the end of 2000.

IMF Regional Director Richard Haas said the IMF mission has not
found any serious problems that the Chisinau cabinet could not
solve, adding that this makes very possible the signature of a new
credit agreement in October.

Speaking at a press conference at the end of his IMF two-week
mission to Chisinau, Richard Haas said he was satisfied with the
results registered by Moldova over the recent months. He noted in
particular a reduction in the salary and pension arrears, declining
inflation rate and a start in repayment of foreign debts,
despite the lack of foreign credits and the severe drought.

Richard Haas said he believed that the privatization of wine and
tobacco companies, included in the new programme, would not be a
problem. Premier Dumitru Braghis told the same press conference
that these companies could be privatized until the arrival of the
next IMF mission in October.

Braghis said the government released to the parliament some
modifications to the Law on Government, that would allow the
government to take decisions on privatization.

Moldovan Premier said that until the end of September the
government should complete an activity program for the next three
years, aimed to reduce the poverty, and that will be later examined
by the IMF board of directors.

According to Braghis, Chisinau and IMF officials have not found yet
a common stance on the customs duties and the commercial regime of
the country, the bank that should administrate the state budget and
when Moldtelecom should be privatized.

International bodies frozen their financial assistance for Moldova
in last April, after the Chisinau parliament rejected the
privatization of the wine and tobacco companies.


EN2651E* IMF OFFICIAL: MOLDOVA'S DGP WILL DROP BY 7 PERCENT

Chisinau-26.07.2000/(BASA-press) Regional director of the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Richard Haas considers that the
gross domestic product (GDP) of Moldova will drop by seven percent
in 2000 as a result of the drought. Meanwhile, the annual inflation
rate will be 17-18 percent, smaller that figure fixed in the 2000
budget.

In earlier 2000, the National Bank of Moldova and the Finance
Ministry forecasted a 2-percent rise in the GDP and a 26-percent
inflation rate.

Speaking at a press conference at the end of the IMF two-week
mission to Chisinau, Richard Haas said in the future the GDP of
Moldova will rise by five percent and the annual inflation will
drop by ten percent.

Based on these parameters, the IMF mission signed with the Chisinau
government an agreement on the 2000 budget that, according to Haas,
will be "financed from interior resources".

Moldovan Premier Dumitru Braghis told the same press conference
that the government will present rectifications to the 2000 budget
in late September. According to him, the main figures - revenues,
expenses and deficit - will not experience any changes.

Braghis said that 43.7 percent of the annual revenues were
collected in the first half of 2000. He said the Moldovan budget
has a seasonable character and two thirds of the budget are
collected in the second half of the year. Braghis said he was
optimist and believed that the 2000 budget will be implemented
integrally. He added that in the opinion of IMF experts, the
cabinet will be forced, however, to take a 100-million-leu (about
8 million dollars) credit from the National Bank to cover the
budgetary deficit.