The director of the International Monetary Fund Executive, De Lannoy, who is also in charge of the Republic of Moldova in the IMF board, did not wish to comment on the European Parliament's decision to suspend the granting of the 100 million euros in macro-financial assistance, but says that the institution he represents "will never put political conditionality". However, the IMF official is convinced that the Brussels money will come to Moldova, the payments being suspended until the situation regarding the judicial decision that invalidated the elections in Chisinau was clarified.

"I will not comment on the EU's decision to temporarily stop paying because this decision is based on a political conditionality. In the IMF, it will never put political conditionality, because we consider it important to focus on economic issues.

Politics is a democratic process, but we do not want to get involved. What is important to emphasize, is that the EU has not canceled Moldova's support, they have clearly stated that they need more information about the court decision on local elections. And until I get these clarifications, they have temporarily suspended the allocation of funds. We believe this money will come, but later", said Anthony De Lannoy, in an exclusive interview for the National Newspaper.

In the interview, Anthony De Lannoy also explained why he came to Moldova and what the authorities would do next to the parliamentary elections.

De Lannoy, why did you decide to visit the Republic of Moldova? Something wrong?

Not. On the contrary. I'm here because there's a lot of good news. Last Friday, the Executive Board approved the third assessment of the IMF Program with Moldova. I'm here to discuss about the next step. So far, the Program is going well and we are already seeing the benefits to the Moldovan economy. I am here to talk about the next steps, because the elections are coming and we need to see what to do before and after the elections. But, in fact, everything goes well. Especially in the banking sector, a lot of progress has been made to clean up the sector and to ensure that things that have happened in the past, fraud, will not happen again. So the issue of stability, I think, has been solved.

At the same time, many steps have been taken in the field of taxation and in the real sector to make the economy stronger. And this can be seen through economic growth, low inflation, unemployment is declining. Wages are rising, but the Government is also taking a number of exciting initiatives such as "First Home" and all this shows that the economy is far stronger than it has been before. I'm here to tell other Board directors about what happens after last week's decision (allocation of the third installment), but not because something bad happened.

You have mentioned that you need to see what to do before and after the parliamentary elections in the Republic of Moldova. Will the parliamentary elections affect the relations between Moldova and the IMF?

It is good to make regular elections, it is a part of democracy. But what is important to us is to understand what can be done before the elections and whether the choices can have any impact on the country's economic performance.

Could it have any impact?

Theoretically, yes.It depends on the situation. For example, because of the elections, government could have spent more. That is why we are discussing in advance what the Government's plans are. But we do not see any problems in Moldova for now because the Government is acting above the expectations in terms of tax targets. Tax revenues are higher than expected, and this result has not come about because taxes are too high, but because the economy is really working very well. It is an insurance pillar that we consider important.

And the second pillar of the insurer is represented by the Central Bank's external reserves, which are very large.

These two give us confidence that the election will not be problematic for the Program. That's why I'm here to make sure there is no instability due to the choices, and the figures we see give us confidence that everything is good.

The European Parliament has called on the European Commission to stop the allocation of € 100 million in macro-financial assistance. What impact do you think there will be a possible decision of this kind for Moldova?

I think the Moldovan authorities are right when they say they can handle the money from the European Union: budget breakdowns are relatively high, as well as the foreign reserves of the National Bank. So, I do not see problems in the near future. I will not comment on the EU's decision to temporarily stop paying because this decision is based on political conditionality. As for the IMF, it will never put political conditionality, because we consider it important to focus on economic issues. Politics is a democratic process, but we do not want to get involved.

What is important to emphasize, however, is that the EU has not canceled Moldova's support, they have clearly stated that they need more information about the court decision on local elections. And until I get these clarifications, they have temporarily suspended the allocation of funds. We believe this money will come, but later. It is a matter of time and therefore we are not worried because there is a lot of tax resources and sufficient reserves and we expect the money to come later later this year.

If the money does not come this year, the budget will have to be readjusted, but given the over-performance of the tax, there is no cause for concern. For the IMF, there is no indication that there is any problem in providing Moldova with finance.

Mr De Lannoy, you speak in praise of the government's actions in the economic field. Do we really have no urgent problems that the authorities now have to deal with?

I think there are two. Infrastructure. But here the Ministry of Economy is very active and there are financial resources available. Of course, the problem is capacity: you have to do a lot of projects at the same time, and the government has the capacity it has. But I know they are working on it and it is important to continue. The Minister of Economy showed me the site (drumuribune.md) that anyone can see how the project progresses.

And two is the Public Procurement Act, which is important to make the whole process more transparent.

A general problem for all countries is education: you need to make sure that the education system prepares qualified people who need an active economy. Especially in areas that provide high growth, such as IT.

The government has taken a lot of measures, but that the population starts to feel its needs.

Do you think that this is why Moldovans seem more pessimistic than theirs, because, according to the surveys here, most people say their situation is not improving and Moldova is heading in the wrong way ...

I have the impression that the general public does not fully understand the progress that has been made. And I really want to emphasize: this IMF Program was very complicated. When we started talking to the Moldovan authorities, the Program was very problematic, the difficulties were very complex: fraud in the financial system, the state of the economy.

But what impressed me on the very first day was the degree of commitment of the authorities. I am referring to the Minister of Finance, the Prime Minister, the Governor of the National Bank, the Speaker of Parliament, the Minister of Economy. Everyone was very determined, but also aware of the difficult task they had ahead.

But now, when we see how much progress has been made, it is even impressive. The population is still not aware of this, because it takes time. But again, wages are rising, stability exists, and the banking sector is far safer than it was.

My feeling is that society is not sufficiently aware that all these economic benefits are the merits of governance.