The National Bank of Moldova

The base rate is the reference rate for the main short-term monetary policy operations. Around it, the NBM builds a symmetric corridor of two percentage points up and down: the lending facility above, the deposit facility below.

A few terms explained briefly. Required reserves are the portion of attracted deposits that banks must hold at the NBM. Overnight operations are loans or deposits placed for a single night. Repo operations are short-term loans secured by securities.

Source: bnm.md — Interest rates.

When the NBM raises the base rate, loans in Moldovan lei become more expensive, deposits and government securities yields become more attractive, and the Moldovan leu tends to strengthen against foreign currency. When it lowers the rate, the effect is the opposite. The same logic explains why government securities yields rise or fall along with the decision.

The NBM sets the official exchange rate of the Moldovan leu, whose currency code is MDL. This rate is a reference rate, published on every working day.

How the official rate is formed

The official rate is not fixed arbitrarily, but calculated. Since January 2, 2025, the reference currency of the Moldovan leu is the euro, which replaced the US dollar. For the euro, the NBM takes the weighted average of actual euro-against-Moldovan-lei transactions on Moldova's foreign exchange market, weighted by traded volumes.

For other currencies, such as the dollar, the rate does not come from within Moldova. The NBM obtains it by combining the official EUR/MDL rate with the international rate between that currency and the euro, taken from the international market, mainly from the Bloomberg information system. This way, the Moldovan-lei portion comes from the local market, while the ratio between the two currencies comes from the international foreign exchange market. The rate is set on every working day, is valid from the next working day, and covers a few dozen currencies.

Source: NBM Regulation on setting the official exchange rate of the Moldovan leu, points 10–11 and 14, Annex 1.

This is a reference rate. Commercial banks apply their own buying and selling rates, and the difference between them, called the spread, represents the bank's margin. That's why the rate at the bank differs from the official one.

What moves the Moldovan leu

Several factors act on the exchange rate: the trade balance, diaspora remittances (a major factor for Moldova, since they bring in significant euro and dollar inflows), NBM monetary policy, domestic and external inflation, energy prices, foreign investment, and the regional geopolitical context. The NBM can intervene in the market by buying or selling currency, and it manages the country's foreign currency reserves.

The live exchange rate and a converter are available on the Exchange rate page.

Government securities (GS) are debt instruments issued by the state. The issuer is the Ministry of Finance, and the NBM acts as agent of the state, meaning it organizes the placement of these securities on the domestic market on behalf of the Ministry of Finance.

Source: Law No. 548/1995 on the National Bank of Moldova, Article 40.

How to actually buy, what yields, and what tax regime applies, you'll find on the dedicated eVMS page. Who issues government securities and what public debt looks like, you'll find on the Ministry of Finance page. The auction mechanics, through which securities reach the market, you'll see in the next chapter.

This is where the NBM's role on the local capital market is clearest. Government securities reach investors in two ways: through the auctions organized by the NBM on the primary market and, for individuals, directly from the Ministry of Finance, on the eVMS.md platform launched in 2024.

Source: Ministry of Finance, Investor's Guide to Government Securities 2026.

The NBM, agent of the state

The NBM manages the primary market for government securities as agent of the Ministry of Finance, based on an agency agreement. The NBM organizes and conducts the auctions, but does not issue the securities. The issuer remains the Ministry of Finance. The GS market has operated since March 1995.

Source: bnm.md — State securities market.

The auction calendar

Treasury bills (short-term) are auctioned in the first and third week of the month, on Tuesdays, and government bonds (medium- and long-term) in the second week, on Wednesdays. The auction calendar is published for each quarter, on the pages of the Ministry of Finance and the NBM, before the quarter begins.

Sources: Investor's Guide to Government Securities 2026; bnm.md — Calendar of state securities auctions.

Types of bids

How the interest rate is set

For treasury bills and fixed-rate bonds, competitive bids are awarded using the multiple-price method: each winning bid is executed at its own price. For floating-rate bonds, the uniform-price method applies: accepted bids are executed at the maximum accepted margin. Non-competitive bids are executed at the weighted average price resulting from the accepted competitive bids. The Ministry of Finance decides what volume to accept, and this determines the level of the awarded interest rate.

Source: Investor's Guide to Government Securities 2026.

Primary dealers and settlement

At the auction, investors, whether individuals or legal entities, submit their bids through a primary dealer, meaning a bank that has signed an agreement with the NBM for this function. Individuals can also buy government securities directly from the Ministry of Finance, on the eVMS.md platform, without a primary dealer. Settlement and the record of securities are handled through the Single Central Securities Depository (DCU), where holdings are registered.

Sources: bnm.md — Primary dealers system; Investor's Guide to Government Securities 2026.

Where to see the results

The auction calendar and the placement result statements are published, after each auction, on the official pages of the Ministry of Finance and the NBM.

The NBM licenses and supervises banks in Moldova and sets the required reserve rules. Since July 1, 2023, under Law 178/2020, the NBM also took over from the NCFM the supervision of other sectors: insurers, non-bank lending organizations (OCN), and savings and loan associations (AEI).

Source: Law No. 548/1995 on the National Bank of Moldova, Article 5 (p), as amended by Law No. 178 of September 11, 2020, in force since July 1, 2023.

For a market participant, the stability of the financial system is the foundation on which savings, bank accounts, and transfers to brokers rest. A properly supervised system reduces the risk that access to money gets blocked in moments of crisis.

The NBM's Executive Board meets several times a year to decide on monetary policy. Each decision comes with a statement explaining the reasoning: the evolution of inflation, the external environment, and the medium-term outlook.

What to watch

Three things matter: the direction of the base rate (a hike, a hold, or a cut), the gap between current inflation and the 5% target, and the tone of the statement. Together, they anticipate moves in yields and in the Moldovan leu. You'll find macroeconomic data on the Economic indicators of Moldova page, and upcoming data on the Moldova Economic Calendar.

A common confusion. In Moldova, financial supervision is split between two authorities, and since July 1, 2023, that split has changed.

Source: Law No. 548/1995, Article 5 (p), as amended by Law No. 178 of September 11, 2020, in force since July 1, 2023.

For the capital market, where investment firms operate, the regulatory authority is the National Commission for Financial Markets (NCFM), not the NBM. Since July 1, 2023, supervision of insurance and non-bank lending moved from the NCFM to the NBM, but the capital market stayed with the NCFM. The two institutions collaborate, but they have different mandates: the NBM is responsible for monetary stability and prudential supervision, while the NCFM is responsible for the capital market and investor protection.

The NBM has been doing financial education for many years. In March 2019, the NBM and the Independent Analytical Center „Expert-Grup" launched the „Învață! Dă sens banilor" project, aimed at young people. Since 2020, the NBM has organized a financial education camp every year; the seventh edition, in 2026, is called „Sensul banilor". In June 2023, the NBM launched a financial education podcast, published in 2026 under the name „Sensul banilor". These programs explain, in terms anyone can understand, concepts like inflation, saving, or how the financial system works.

Sources (bnm.md): project launch, March 2019; camp, seventh edition, 2026; podcast launch, June 8, 2023; the „Sensul banilor" podcast, July 2026.