OREANDA-NEWS. February 18, 2011. The head of the International Monetary Fund assessment mission Nikolay Gueorguiev said at the press conference that the IMF the mission and the Moldovan authorities have reached a staff-level agreement on the completion of the second review under the ECF/EFF arrangements.

The agreement is subject to approval by the IMF Management and Executive Board. Executive Board consideration is expected in early April. Completion of the review will enable Moldova to draw SDR 50 million (about USD 77 million) under the arrangements to support its budget and the external reserve position. Gueorguiev said the program is broadly on track, although the implementation of several structural benchmarks has been delayed by last year’s elections and technical difficulties. The authorities are committed to move expeditiously to implement these measures.

The IMF assessment mission was working in Moldova from February 2 through February 16. It held discussions with the authorities in the context of the second review of the Moldova’s program with the IMF under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangements.

The mission took stock of the recent economic developments and program implementation, update assessment of the macroeconomic outlook, and discussed with the authorities macroeconomic and structural policies to foster macroeconomic stability and promote sustainable growth in the period ahead. Moldova’s three-year IMF program, approved on January 29, 2010, is supported by a loan of SDR 369.6 million, of which SDR 120 million (about USD 180 million) have been already disbursed.

The next loan disbursement of SDR 50 million (about USD 77 million) under the program will take place after the completion of the second program review. One half of the loan is provided under the Extended Credit Facility, which carries a zero interest rate until end-2011, a grace period of 5? years, and a 10-year maturity.

The rest of the loan is provided under the Extended Fund Facility, which carries an annual interest rate equal to the SDR basic rate of charge (currently 1.27 percent), and is repayable over 10 years with a 4? -year grace period.