A statistics report said Moldova's economic crisis had been "intensified by a severe drought in the spring and summer and further aggravated by natural calamities in August, including a tornado, unprecedented floods and hail." The report said agricultural output, the source of 60 percent of budget revenues, declined 14 percent in the first nine months. It gave no data for gross domestic product.
Tight Moldovan monetary policies brought monthly inflation down to 2.5 percent in September, from 44 percent in January. August prices fell 0.1 percent, but this was mostly due to seasonal drops in food prices.
The report said real wages shrank 61 percent in the January to September period and averaged 114 lei ($28), enough to cover just 40 percent of the goods in a basket of consumer essentials.
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