Moldova has reached an agreement with the International Monetary Fund on a new $94 million tranche under the existing lending program, Prime Minister Dorin Recean said on Tuesday.

That sum is part of a larger $800 million package agreed with the Fund last year to help Moldova deal with the impact of the war in neighbouring Ukraine and rising food and energy prices.

"We have reached an agreement with an IMF's mission on receiving the next $94 million tranche," Recean told a joint news conference with the IMF representatives.

Ruben Atoyan, the head of the IMF mission to Chisinau, praised Moldova's government efforts to maintain the economic stability in the country of 2.6 million people.

"The central bank is easing the monetary policy thanks to a slower inflation," Atoyan told reporters, speaking through an interpreter. "Currency reserves are growing in the country. The new government is firmly committed to implementing fiscal, customs and budget policies."

Recean's government was appointed in February on pledges to revive the economy and chart a course towards the European Union.

Moldova’s economy contracted during the second half of 2022. The government expects gross domestic product to fall between 3 and 5% on 2022 results. The full data for the last year is not yet available.

The economy is highly dependent on Russian gas flows and relations are strained with Russia. President Maia Sandu has accused of trying to destabilise Moldova, but Russia has denied the accusation.

 

(Reporting by Alexandr Tanas, Writing by Olena Harmash, Editing by Timothy Heritage)