CHISINAU (Reuters) – The Moldovan government revised its 2022 economic growth forecast to zero from the previous 0.3%, pointing to the negative impact of the war in neighbouring Ukraine and rising global energy prices, the finance ministry said on Wednesday.
Last year, Moldova’s economy grew by almost 14%.
The ministry said that the inflation forecast for 2022 had been raised to 29.5% from the previous of 21.9% and the local currency rate had been weakened to 19.14 leu per $1 from 18.81.
The country expects its industrial output will grow by 1.5% while the agriculture sector will shrink by 18% because of the drought.
The ministry said that the government would discuss amendments to the 2022 budget at its Wednesday meeting, prompted by the fact that economic performance would be worse than previously expected.
Earlier Moldova appealed to the International Monetary Fund for help with the extra financial burden of supporting Ukrainian refugees who have sought safety across the border and whose number currently is about 89,000 in the country of 2.6 million people.
(Reporting by Alexander Tanas and Natalia Zinets; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
