LOANS PROVIDED BY CHINESE GOVERNMENT: OPPORTUNITIES AND RISKS FOR THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA

As external development partners have put on hold their financial support for Moldova, contracting loans from China sparks an increasing interest. Because debates on this topic take place with very little information available, in this article we have made a synthesis of official data disseminated by the Chinese authorities, estimations made by the OECD and other organizations, records from the archive of the National Bank of Moldova, documents from the state register of legal acts, as well as of data published by the press. The results show that, although loans provided by the Chinese government are not an alternative to the loans offered by the IMF and other traditional creditors for budget and balance of payments support, they have a range of peculiar advantages and can be a convenient means of financing projects in the area of energy, industry, and agriculture.