The World Bank is optimistic for Moldova. First of all, Moldova could be a magnet for investment for the European consumer, World Bank Country Manager in Moldova Alex Kremer wrote on his blog, IPN reports.
“On the edge of the largest market in the world - the European Union - and with labor costs a tiny fraction of the EU average, Moldova could be a magnet for investment for the European consumer. Moldova's Free Economic Zones show how attractive the country can be to foreign investors when businesses are protected from corruption and hassles. The day that Moldovans get a clean economy, therefore, they will see explosive growth in such areas as light manufacturing, for example, and with that will come higher demand for labor and better wages. And faster economic growth will mean more money to pay for decent education, health care and pensions,” said Alex Kremer.
The second reason for optimism is that Moldova has already weathered the worst of the economic shock caused by Russia's economic downturn and the 2015 drought. After a 2 percent decline in 2015, the World Bank predicts that GDP growth will resume slowly in 2016 to 0.5 percent and accelerate to 4 percent in 2017.
But prosperity is within Moldova's reach and the following should be done in 2016: mend the banking sector; have continuity in the social sectors: health, education and social protection; get private interests out of public economic institutions; fix the energy supply, and adjust public finances so that investment and public procurement can resume.
“And the World Bank? We will not give Moldova budget support until we and the IMF are sure that the plan for public finances is sustainable. But we're still hard at work. We just approved Moldova's biggest ever project: US $80 million for rural roads. Let's hope that we soon have a Government so that we can see new road surfaces in the spring. Our next projects will computerize the tax service (you can't bribe a computer) and finance grants to farmers' groups to help them export modern products to the EU,” said Alex Kremer.
“The World Bank Group has heard what Moldovans want in 2016: a clean economy and decent public services. We hope that 2016 will bring Moldovans what they want and deserve.”
