The National Bank of Moldova published its end-2024 assessment of the banking sector’s financial position and prudential compliance, showing loan-led balance sheet growth, improving portfolio quality, and a slight decline in profitability driven mainly by lower interest income. Total assets rose 10.6% to MDL 170,175.0 million, with loans and advances reaching MDL 80,824.6 million after a 26.5% increase and taking 47.5% of assets. Non-performing loans fell to 4.1% of total loans, down 1.4 percentage points, with NPLs down 5.5% in absolute terms to MDL 3,353.8 million. Deposits increased 13.4% to MDL 129,091.7 million, while sector profit fell 2.8% to MDL 3,973.6 million, alongside a decline in return on assets to 2.4% and return on equity to 14.7%. Liquidity and capital indicators remained above regulatory minima, including a sector liquidity coverage ratio of 274.2% and a total capital ratio of 26.3%, although one bank exceeded the 35% market dominance threshold for household deposits at 35.8% and one bank reported a 51.3% concentration against a 30% limit for the aggregate of its ten largest credit exposures, subject to additional own-funds requirements. The update also recaps 2024 regulatory changes aimed at Basel III and EU alignment, including COREP additions for maturity-ladder liquidity monitoring and a new Liquidity Regulation effective 1 July 2025 that updates the liquidity coverage ratio framework in line with EU rules and introduces the net stable funding ratio, with LCR to be reported monthly and NSFR quarterly in MDL plus maturity-ladder reporting. From 1 July 2025 banks must also display LCR and NSFR information monthly in bank offices, while legacy liquidity rules are set to be phased out through 1 July 2026 and 13 July 2026 with a one-year parallel reporting period.
National Bank of Moldova 2025-03-14
National Bank of Moldova reports end-2024 banking sector expansion and schedules EU-aligned LCR and NSFR liquidity regime from July 2025
The National Bank of Moldova's end-2024 assessment highlights loan-led balance sheet growth, improved portfolio quality, and a slight decline in profitability due to lower interest income. Total assets increased by 10.6% to MDL 170,175.0 million, with non-performing loans reduced to 4.1% of total loans. Regulatory updates for 2024 include Basel III and EU alignment, with new liquidity regulations effective July 2025, mandating monthly and quarterly reporting of liquidity coverage and net stable funding ratios.