OREANDA-NEWS. April 08, 2011. The decision was taken last night in Washington by the IMF Management and Executive Board which approved the completion of the second review under the Extended Credit Facility/Extended Fund Facility (ECF/EFF) arrangements with Moldova.

Completion of the review enabled Moldova to draw the funds to support its budget and the external reserve position. Earlier, IMF mission head Nikolay 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. 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. 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.