Republic of Moldova: Central Bank Transparency Code Review

IMF Staff Country Reports, April 4, 2025

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Bibliographic details

• Published: April 4, 2025
• Series: IMF Staff Country Reports
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9798229007382.002

Background and context

• The National Bank of Moldova (NBM) has emerged from a challenging history regarding trust and accountability, which significantly influences its current transparency and communication practices.
• The review discussed in this paper examines the NBM’s disclosure practices across AML/CFT supervision, foreign exchange intervention, reserve management, macroprudential policy, Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA), and communications strategy.

AML/CFT supervisory transparency

• Findings:
  • The NBM undertakes its Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) supervisory responsibility transparently.
  • Some gaps remain in the transparency of the NBM’s internal AML/CFT activities.
• Implication:
  • Continued attention is needed to close internal-transparency gaps to strengthen accountability and public trust.

Foreign exchange intervention and reserve management

• Findings:
  • The NBM discloses the broad objectives of its foreign exchange intervention policy.
  • The NBM discloses the interaction between foreign exchange intervention and monetary policy.
  • The NBM discloses the relevant legal and institutional frameworks for foreign exchange intervention.
  • The NBM discloses key objectives, risk exposure, governance with oversight responsibility, and investment structure of its foreign exchange reserve management.
• Implication:
  • The existing disclosures provide a substantive basis for understanding policy aims, interactions, and governance of reserve operations.

Macroprudential policy and Emergency Liquidity Assistance

• Findings:
  • The NBM discloses its macroprudential policy framework, including objectives, strategy, and instruments.
  • Transparency of the Emergency Liquidity Assistance framework has been greatly enhanced with the publication of the NBM’s ELA Regulation in 2019.
• Implication:
  • Publication of the ELA Regulation in 2019 represents a material improvement in lender-of-last-resort transparency; ongoing disclosures of macroprudential instruments support financial stability communication.

Communications strategy and institutional transparency

• Findings:
  • The NBM’s communications strategy is currently fragmented.
• Recommendation:
  • The communications strategy should have clear objectives and measurable targets to improve coherence, accountability, and public understanding.

Consolidated policy recommendations

• Strengthen transparency of internal AML/CFT activities to close identified gaps.
• Maintain and, where appropriate, deepen disclosures on foreign exchange intervention objectives, interactions with monetary policy, and legal/institutional frameworks.
• Continue to disclose reserve management objectives, risk exposures, governance arrangements, and investment structure to enhance market understanding and oversight.
• Preserve and operationalize the transparency gains from the 2019 ELA Regulation; ensure ongoing clarity around ELA procedures and accountability.
• Reform the communications strategy to set clear objectives and measurable targets, replacing fragmented practices with a coherent, goal-oriented framework.

Source: Republic of Moldova: Central Bank Transparency Code Review, April 4, 2025.

Content in this bundle

• Central Bank Transparency Review — Executive Summary and Detailed Findings
  • Central Bank Transparency Review — Executive Summary and Detailed Findings (Markdown version)
  • Central Bank Transparency Review — Executive Summary and Detailed Findings (PDF)