National Bank of Moldova recommends banks to refrain from paying dividends

Chisinau, 6 April /MOLDPRES/- The Executive Committee of the National Bank of Moldova (BNM) unanimously approved, in an extraordinary meeting, a decision recommending that the licensed banks refrain from distributing dividends to shareholders and other forms of capital distribution, at least until September 30, 2020. The decision comes in the context of mitigating the effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to keep banks well-capitalized and stable.

Measures have been approved to relax the capital buffer requirements. Thus, the BNM allows banks to use temporarily (until a later date) the capital preservation buffer set up previously.

In this context, banks are encouraged to continue to promote appropriate policies on recognition and coverage of non-performing exposures and make capital and liquidity planning, as well as robust risk management.

According to the National Bank, the measures are in line with good international practices and are similar to the decisions recently promoted by most central banks in the European Union and in the region.

Since 17 March, when the state of emergency in the country, the National Bank has adopted a lot of measures to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus epidemic on the banking sector, people and business.