"There Is No Hole in the Budget." Chicu Claims Money Will Be, Including from the IMF

Moldovan Prime Minister Ion Chicu assured that there is no “hole” in the state budget, and the money from the IMF will certainly be received this year. The Prime Minister said this on February 21, presenting to journalists a report on 100 days of the government's work. He denied claims made by opposition that Moldova ended 2019 with a huge hole in the budget, which continues to grow. “This is all speculation. We ended the year with better indicators than those agreed with the International Monetary Fund. And this is despite parliamentary and local elections and three governments,” the head of the cabinet said. According to him, the share of public debt in GDP fell to 25.2% instead of the previously approved 27.1%. The budget deficit is also half as much as planned, and the share of grants in budget expenditures was only 2.4%. This, according to Chicu, suggests that Moldova keeps up with its responsibilities with minimal external financing. The prime minister said that almost € 70 million received from external partners under Maia Sandu were allocated to Moldova based on the results of its achievements for 2013-2018, and not the achievements of one of the three governments that acted in 2019. He emphasized several times that the treasury had enough funds by the end of the year to fulfill its obligations in January. Therefore, according to him, Moldova not only managed to successfully complete the program with the IMF, but also could expect a new agreement with the fund to be concluded.