OREANDA-NEWS. This is provided by the amendments to the Law on Currency Regulation developed by the National Bank of Moldova and submitted for public consultations. It is planned to liberalize currency transactions to be coordinated with NBM (with some exceptions), amounting to 10 thousand euro (or equivalent).

At the same time, the bill provides full liberalization of transactions with foreign financial instruments carried out by certified banks and legal entities which activities are regulated and controlled by the National Commission for Financial Market: insurance and investment companies, micro-finance organizations, etc. This liberalization will be possible due to the fact that these structures work under supervision and control of the state agencies with regulatory powers (NBM and NCFM) and also due to the improvement in the existing legal framework. In addition, the amendments provide liberalization to issue loans to the non-residents by the certified banks.

According to the National Bank, to date the volume of loans granted by the banks to non-residents is insignificant, amounting to USD 4.9 million as of August 31, 2013. It is planned that liberalization of transactions connected with issuance of loans to non-residents will not lead to their growth , as in Moldova, the interest rate on loans is higher than abroad that orient banks to place funds at the domestic market. In addition, lending loans abroad limits the ability of the domestic banks to sell the assets pledged, which prevent the banks from conducting such operations. However, now the banks have internal policies and procedures for credit risk management, which allows to identify, analyze and evaluate credit risk.

The project also provides the right of the banks (residents and non-residents) to import and export cash in the local currency exceeding 100 thousand lei, as well as the right of the banks non-residents to import and export cash in the foreign currency without the NBM' s permission. Currently, these transactions require authorization of NBM.