Moldovan experts record slowdown in economic growth tempo

Chisinau, 4 November /MOLDPRES/ - A slowdown in the economic growth tempo has been recorded in the second half of 2014. The latest issue of the Economic Reality publication, launched by the Expert Grup Independent Analytical Centre today, shows that the Anticipatory Composite Index was of 106.5 points in September 2014, lower against both the month before and the same period of the last year.

Thus, despite the fact that the economic situation is rather volatile in 2014, starting from July 2014 „a slight decelerating trend has been registered”.

The experts say that „in the near future, the authorities must focus on attenuating the exposure of the Moldovan economy to local risks, via institutional consolidation and improving the business environment."

The main challenges are related to the constraints of external environment: economic difficulties from the EU and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), coupled with the trade restrictions imposed by Russia, the publication's authors say. The total quota of exports is dropping for the second month in a row and the principal cause is the diminishing of exports to CIS by 31.3 per cent in last August, as a result of the trade restrictions put by Russia to some imports of Moldovan agro-food products, as well as the worsening of economic conditions in Russia and Ukraine.

At the same time, the sinuous economic dynamic of the main EU trade partners (especially Romania and Italy), affect the demand for Moldovan exports on the EU market, the Expert-Grup says. In August, the exports to the European market decreased by 3.1 per cent.

The experts added that the volatile economic and social situation in the region enhanced the local level of incertitude. In particular, people and economic agents decide to consume less and save more.

After Moldova had made a huge leap in the World Bank's top Doing Business 2015, from the 82nd to the 63rd position, „it is necessary to continue the efforts, in order to simplify the procedure of getting the permissive documents and reduce the discretion margin of public servants in relation with the companies applying for such documents.” At the same time, the Expert-Grup recommends that, in the context of removal of the tariff obstacles to trade, in order to fully benefit from the provisions of the Association Agreement with EU, the customs duties should be simplified, the adoption and implementation of quality standards should be facilitated and the quality infrastructure modernised.