Expert-Grup

State of the Country Report 2020: The COVID-19 Pandemic and Drought – Two Major Crises Pushing Moldova to the Brink of a Severe Economic Recession

Tuesday, 20 October 20203595 views
State of the Country Report 2020: The COVID-19 Pandemic and Drought – Two Major Crises Pushing Moldova to the Brink of a Severe Economic Recession

Automatically translated summary. The full article is available in Romanian.

The Independent Think Tank “Expert-Grup”, in partnership with Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Moldova, launched the State of the Country Report 2020 on 20 October at the eighth MACRO Conference. The report analyses Moldova's economic and social situation and the problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and this year's drought.

According to the report, Moldova entered the pandemic unprepared. At the start of the year it ranked 86th of 141 countries for competitiveness, 87th of 180 on the Economic Freedom Index and 120th of 180 on the Corruption Perceptions Index. Over the past year the country lost ground against other Central and Eastern European states and stagnated relative to Romania and Ukraine.

The authors also note a deepening chronic lack of trust between citizens and the government, which increased public disregard for pandemic measures, while the government failed to design a comprehensive anti-crisis programme for people and business. Adrian Lupușor said the budget deficit could reach 8-10%. Together, the pandemic and the severe drought are forecast to shrink the economy by up to 7.5%, a deeper recession than in 2009.

View the original article in Romanian