Former Romanian finance minister could be appointed head of National Bank of Moldova

CHISINAU, Dec 22 (Interfax) - Former Romanian Finance Minister Anca Dragu could become the new head of the National Bank of Moldova, Speaker of the Moldovan Parliament Igor Grosu said.

"Today in parliament I will nominate Anca Dragu for the post of head of the National Bank of Moldova. Anca Dragu has important experience in the financial and banking sector, public policy, and accession to the EU. Anca Dragu worked for more than 15 years at the National Bank of Romania, at the IMF and was Minister of Finance in Romania," Grosu said on social media.

Dragu served as head of the Romanian Ministry of Finance from 2015 to 2017. From 1996 to 2001, he worked at the National Bank of Romania, and from 2001 to 2013 at the International Monetary Fund.

He has been a senator (upper house of the Romanian parliament) since 2020.

On December 21, the Moldovan parliament dismissed the head of the National Bank, Octavian Armasha. The decision was voted for by 81 deputies (out of 101 parliament members) from the ruling Action and Solidarity party and the opposition Bloc of Communists and Socialists.

The decision was made following parliamentary hearings on the theft of one billion dollars from the country's banking system in 2014. Parliament accused Armasha of "sabotage" and "obstruction of the investigation" of the theft.

Armashu was appointed President of the National Bank in 2018 for a seven-year term.