Representatives of the National Bank of Moldova (NBM), led by Governor Anca Dragu, and the World Bank in Moldova together with World Bank’s Country Manager, Inguna Dobraja, held an official meeting on 14 February 2024.

Discussions focused on macroeconomic developments and the economic outlook of the Republic of Moldova, the central bank’s priorities, the NBM’s progress in harmonizing the domestic banking regulatory framework with the European one, and other topics of major interest, including future cooperation.

Anca Dragu emphasized that the independence, integrity, and transparency of the NBM are at the top of her agenda. She also spoke about the need to increase the level of financial intermediation to ensure the economic development of the Republic of Moldova.

Inguna Dobraja, for her part, reiterated that the World Bank reckons the development of the Republic of Moldova and confirmed its full support for reforms in various strategic areas for Moldova, as well as for the European path of our country.  

A special focus of the meeting was the technical assistance provided by the World Bank to the NBM. In this regard, support for the development of a sustainable financing framework for the financial sector of the Republic of Moldova, the improvement of the legal framework for bank resolution, and the development of the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion were mentioned.

During the discussions, reference was made to the World Bank’s technical assistance projects to the NBM, including training in the areas of central bank activities: risk management, compliance and internal audit, management of the foreign exchange reserve, banking supervision, etc. The NBM’s commitment to sustainable financing by joining the International Network for Sustainable Financing in 2023 was also discussed.

The Partnership Framework for Moldova for 2023-2027 was also mentioned, through which the World Bank continues to support the sustainable development of our country by financing and advising on reform programmes aimed at a greener economy and job creation.

Details of external technical assistance received by the NBM: https://bnm.md/en/content/external-technical-cooperation .