Mr. Vincent Marie, IMF Government Finance Statistic Advisor for South East Europe, based at the Center of Excellence of Finance (CEF) in Ljubljana, worked in Chisinau during January 21-25.

The goal of the mission was to assess the environment in which government finance statistics are produced in Moldova and to identify the elements of a work program between CEF and Moldova for 2008.

The mission worked with representatives of the Budget and Treasury departments of the Ministry of Finance and held a meeting at the National Bureau of Statistics.

The IMF mission found that fiscal data and statistical treatment are of high quality. This confirmed the findings of the 2005 Data Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes (Data ROSC). It should be added that, according to the 2004 Fiscal Transparency ROSC, these data are based on accurate accounting data and procedures.

The mission outlined some potential areas for further work and offered, if need may arise, to continue to provide technical assistance in the area of fiscal statistics, through the Center of Excellence in Finance.

Mr. Marie will report his findings and recommendations to the IMF management, which will, in turn, share them with the authorities and other relevant parties. The summary of the final aide-memoire will be posted on the CEF website, and will be made available to interested parties at their request.

January 25, 2008