Governor of National Bank of Moldova says inflation to increase in third quarter, to continue to decrease afterwards

Chisinau, 14 May /MOLDPRES/ - Governor of the National Bank of Moldova (BNM) Octavian Armasu on 13 May presented the second inflation report from 2022, which reveals the effects of the war in Ukraine on the evolution of prices, the BNM press service has reported.  

Octavian Armasu said that, at present, all economies, including the advanced ones, were facing an increasing inflation, in the wake of the pandemic crisis and the war in the neighbour country – Ukraine.

„There are less and less people who think that the inflation is provisional. The central banks face the situation to sharpen the monetary policy. Along with the other banks, the National Bank of Moldova, through restricting the monetary policy, aims at attenuating the effects of the inflation shocks and at ensuring the financial stability,’’ Octavian Armasu said.

The BNM governor noted that the wave of increase in prices for energy resources internationally had a major impact on the prices in Moldova.

Octavian Armasu said that, in Moldova, the inflation was higher than in other countries for more reasons, including for the big weight of food products in the consumption basket, the small and open economy, as well the unbalances in the economy, which come from the past in form of tariffs non-adjusted in time.   

„The inflation will be higher and more persistent and needs the enforcement of measures of more restrictive monetary policy, which will allow creating conditions for the return to balance and economic growth at the potential level, as well as ensuring the stability of the national currency. Everything the National Bank is doing is for the country to overcome the present difficulties and to reach an economic balance,’’ the governor said.