Moldova Economy Grows Faster Than Eurozone Average

Moldova's economy grew by 4.5 per cent in 2017 - well above the eurozone average of about 2 per cent - as the country's foreign debt decreased slightly, a report released by the Ministry of Finance in Chisinau showed on Monday.

At the end of the December 2017, Moldova's foreign debt amounted at 1.7 billion US dollars, 19.3 per cent of the country's GDP, 2 per cent less than in 2016.

"This evolution is explained by the fact that the GDP increased faster in 2017 than did foreign debt," the report said.

According to the document, neighboring Romania is Moldova's biggest creditor. Bucharest loaned 100 million US dollars to its neighbour in 2017, followed by the International Monetary Fund, IMF, with 26.5 million US dollars, the International Development Association with 20.7 million US dollars, and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, IBRD, with 19.4 million US dollars.

The report does not include the separatist region of Transnistria, where the unrecognized government is highly dependent on Russian support.

In January, during a visit of Transnistria leader Vadim Krasnoselky to Moscow, Russian Vice-Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin promised further implementation of "humanitarian and cultural" projects that Russia says it is conducting in the region.

The size of the fresh loans and aid has not been revealed.

Meanwhile, Moldova's National Bank announced in January that Russian investors no longer hold first place among foreign investors in the country, in terms of direct investment in domestic economic stock.

The Russian Federation was the leader among foreign investors in Moldova until 2016, dropping sharply last year to sixth position in the rankings, behind the Netherlands, Spain, France, followed by...