Radu Marian
Radu Marian, chairman of the Commission for Economy, Budget and Finance, believes that the country needs a technical agreement with the IMF, not a financial one.
“We, little by little, should move to a stage when we will no longer depend on IMF financing. This does not mean that we don’t need cooperation. Obviously, we want to cooperate with the IMF and we can have an agreement, discussing the possibility of a technical agreement to support reforms without having to receive money directly. Other countries in the region, including Romania, at one time refused to do that. The fact that we will stop depending on IMF funds at some point will be a sign of the country’s macroeconomic maturity,” Marian told Cu Sens podcast.
He said the lack of an agreement with the IMF has no negative impact on the budget:
“We have enough of our own sources, we have an economic growth program. Funding for our priorities is provided by the European Union, and the program itself has a clear reform calendar. So there is no financial impact.
At the same time, he emphasized that cooperation with the IMF remains important and that the fund can be a partner that will “guide us”.
“We hope that, at the very least, there will be a technical agreement, at least on reforms, on support for reforms, to reinforce the perception of potential investors who find it important that the country has the closest possible relationship with the IMF. This does not mean that we don’t have close relations – we have good relations, it’s just that we are already discussing a new plan,” the MP concluded.
As Logos Press previously reported, the IMF Board of Directors is set to consider the report on Moldova and the launch of negotiations on a new cooperation program on 27 February this year.
