Владимир Головатюк
The current account deficit at the end of the first quarter was $1 billion. In the same period last year – $447.72 million. According to analysts, this means a complete decline in the country’s financial independence.
The growth of the deficit to the level of a quarter of the country’s GDP (25.8%) is due to a significant increase in the deficit in the balance of goods, as well as a pronounced reduction in the surplus of primary income and a decrease in the positive balance of services, which in general was not enough to level the deficit.
The positive balance of foreign trade in services in the first quarter of 2025 amounted to $200.20 million and decreased by 4.8% over the year. Exports of services amounted to $626.05 million and increased by 10.1%. The main contribution belongs to the IT sector (29%), which increased the export of its services by 19.6%, to $181.61 million. It is followed by the export of tourism services, which increased by 7.5%, to $162.59 million (26% of the total).
“The evolution of international settlements proves that the income produced in the country is not enough for the functioning of the economy. In other words, the country lives at the expense of the rest of the world, demonstrating enormous financial insolvency, as evidenced by the record current account deficit in history,” says economist Vladimir Golovatyuk. The international investment position of Moldova as of 31.03.2025 amounted to -6,037.33 million US dollars (or 33.0% of GDP), an increase of 8.0%. The decrease in the position of external financial assets was affected by a decrease in commercial loans and advances – by 8.3%, reserve assets – by 0.8% and loans by 5.5%. At the same time, portfolio investments recorded an increase of 25.2% (+$23.05 million), which is reflected in the dynamics of the position of non-resident securities in the portfolio of licensed banks of Moldova.
