Moldovan banks to grant more loans in national currency, from European funds

Chisinau, 11 October /MOLDPRES/- The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), under the EU4Business initiative of the European Union, launched on 10 October a regional campaign -The Power of Local Currency, which will increase entrepreneurs' access to financing in national currency. The campaign will take place in six Eastern Partnership countries - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova.

The campaign will last three years, during which time EFSE will provide financial support to banks and non-bank lending organizations, which will increase the volume of loans granted in national currency. Project beneficiaries are small businesses and low income individual households. At the same time, the advantages of financing in national currency will be promoted through modern and efficient communication tools for entrepreneurs, financial institutions, media, central and local authorities.

“The National Bank of Moldova is meant to support and develop a good environment that favors this interconnection. This is why we are proud to collaborate with institutions such as EFSE, which shares our goals: to promote long-term sustainable growth, to expand the capabilities of the Moldovan financial system to serve small and very small enterprises,” First Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Moldova Vladimir Munteanu said.

EFSE Investment Committee Chairman Markus Aschendorf said that EFSE's first investment in the Eastern Partnership region was in Moldova in 2006. “Since then, we have provided over 200 thousand loans to small and very small businesses and private households, and 23% of them were granted in local currency. Moldova was also the first country in the Eastern Partnership to benefit from financing in the national currency, ”said Markus Aschendorf.

"The European Union and the German Development Bank have invested 60 million euros in this project. Financing in national currency is a priority, not only for the EU, but also for the partners in the region with which we cooperate. The European Union supports the availability and access to local currency and over the years has accomplished this mission by providing financial resources, grants, subsidies, etc., which have benefited even the banks," Head of Sector Economic Development of Eastern Partnership Hoa-Binh Adjemian said.

EFSE will grant a 25 million euro loan to the Republic of Moldova over the next six months. In Moldova, EFSE started operations in 2006 and has so far invested 105 million euros, including 17 percent in national currency, financing eight partner institutions (banks, non-bank lending organizations and leasing companies).