The 2024 state budget that was given a first reading by Parliament is a subsistence and austerity budget oriented to the past, said representatives of the Party “Coalition for Unity and Wellbeing” (CUB). According to them, the budget for next year is a crisis budget with emphasis on social costs and with a modest or even mediocre growth below the recovery needed by the economy and the country.
In a news conference hosted by IPN, CUB chairman Igor Munteanu said the state budget law is the basis for the whole budget year, for the priorities of the government and the citizens. The state budget consists of the population’s money and taxes. “The general figures that create the budget picture for 2024 are somehow known. We enter with revenues projected at 66.6 billion lei and an expenditure of 82.2 billion, lei – with a budget deficit of 16 billion lei. The revenues estimated by the Ministry of Finance are by only 1.3% higher than the budget for 2023, while the expenditure is by 2.2% lower than in 2032 at a time when the nominal value of the leu depreciated by 40% against the last three years as a result of inflation, prices and also the regional war that affects the whole southeastern Europe,” said Igor Munteanu.
According to him, the budget for next year is a maximally austere one. “Its authors do not even hide the fact that they aim to fulfill primarily the social obligations – pensions, medical services - and to finance the budget deficit with foreign funds. But the largest part of the social insurance budget – 18.4 billion lei – goes to cover the social welfare and obligations, plus 17.9 billion lei transfers to the local budgets and 7 billion lei intended for the Mandatory Health Insurance Funds. Given this budget deficit of 16 billion lei, we consider the Ministry of Finance’s task to fill the 2024 budget gap with foreign funds, which have declined considerably, is a very difficult one. In 2023 the integrated budget of 25 billion lei consisted of grants and loans, while in 2024 we will have by 32% less,” said Igor Munteanu.
Rodica Grama, the party’s deputy chairman, noted that the draft budgets were presented for public consultations not long ago and civil society simply didn’t manage to formulate proposals and recommendations. “As to healthcare, we have a lot of questions here. In particular, two most important areas of the health system – primary medical assistance and hospital assistance – remain with the most modest budget for next year,” stated Viorica Grama.
CUB deputy chairman Eduard Bulgac said the draft state budget for next year is a survival budget, as the budgets for the previous years were. “Against the background of the crises we experienced the previous years, which we haven’t yet overcome, and analyzing the projections in this budget law with a rise of 25% for 2024-2026, we see no reflection of the strategic initiatives to develop particular sectors of the national economy,” stated Eduard Bulgac.
Nistru war veteran Gennady Talmatski, a member of the CUB Security, Defense and Public Order Committee, said the governments turn their attention to the veterans only on commemoration days and ignore those who live below the poverty line. The veterans’ demand to increase the allowances was neglected.
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