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MoldovaBanking and Finance
Moldova's banking system, part of the Soviet system
during
the communist era, underwent major changes in 1991. The
National
Bank of Moldova (NBM), established in June 1991 and
modeled on
the Bank of Romania, is subordinate to Parliament. It has
an
extensive set of monetary policy instruments (such as
maximum
lending rates and reserve requirements) and is legally
responsible for bank supervision. However, shortages of
trained
staff and a lack of experience in making and executing
monetary
policy caused the NBM difficulties in its early years.
In 1995 Moldova's banking system was composed of the
NBM and
twenty-six private, joint-stock commercial banks,
including the
Joint Bank for Export and Import (Banca Mixta Pentru
Export i
Import). In 1995 the largest commercial banks were
Moldindconbanc, Banca de Economii, Banca Sociala,
Agroindbanc,
Victoriabanc, and Interprinzbanca. The banking system also
includes four branches of foreign (Romanian and Russian)
banks.
After Russia enacted economic reform measures in
January
1992, Moldova liberalized prices for most of its
commodities
(except bread, milk, energy, utilities, and
transportation) and
raised other prices by 200 to 425 percent. Price controls
were
eliminated gradually, with none left after May 1994.
In early 1995, the average monthly rate of consumer
inflation
was estimated at under 5 percent. This represented a major
improvement, as the annual inflation rate had been 105
percent in
1994, 415 percent in 1993, and a staggering 1,500 percent
in
1992.
In the early years of its independence, Moldova used
both the
Russian ruble and the Moldovan coupon (issued only to
residents
of Moldova) as its currencies. The leu (for value of the
leu--see Glossary)
was introduced in November 1993 to replace these
currencies and to escape the inflation in other former
Soviet
republics. It has remained reasonably stable against major
hard
currencies despite the country's high rates of inflation.
Data as of June 1995
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