The Governor of the National Bank of Moldova, Anca Dragu, delivered a speech at the 36th plenary meeting of the European Covered Bond Council (ECBC), held in Athens, Greece, on 29-30 April 2025.

An important point of discussion at the meeting was the promotion of financial solutions for affordable housing, a topical issue in the European and regional context. In this regard, the Republic of Moldova aims to modernize the legislation on affordable housing in line with EU standards and regulations, in order to provide citizens with broader access to finance and better living conditions.

In her speech, Ms. Anca Dragu highlighted the progress of the Republic of Moldova in modernizing financial markets and advancing the process of integration into the European financial system. The Governor of the NBM discussed the institution’s current priorities in this area: reforming and developing the financial market, diversifying available financial instruments, digitizing the financial infrastructure and consolidating a favourable environment for investors.

An important point of the speech was the acceptance of the Republic of Moldova into the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), which took place on 6 March 2025. “Joining SEPA will facilitate euro payments and provide fast and low-cost transfer solutions, an important step for connecting Moldova to the European financial space”, stated Anca Dragu.

At the same time, the NBM Governor welcomed the initiative of the Bucharest Stock Exchange to contribute to the establishment of a modern stock exchange in the Republic of Moldova by the end of 2025. “This will pave the way for cross-border payment operations and will become one of the central pillars in ensuring the free movement of capital,” added Anca Dragu.

The ECBC's biannual plenary meeting is the leading forum for dialogue in the covered bond industry, traditionally bringing together over 300 key decision-makers: national, European and global government and regulatory officials, investors, analysts, rating agencies and journalists. Participants included representatives from the European Banking Authority (EBA) and the European Commission.

"We want the Republic of Moldova to become a reliable partner on the international financial scene, offering its citizens the same guarantees of security and prosperity that the European Union offers", concluded Governor Anca Dragu.

The European Covered Bond Council (ECBC), launched by the European Mortgage Federation (EMF), is a European platform for dialogue between stakeholders in the covered bond market and aims to represent and promote the interests of covered bond market participants at the international level.