Migration reaches greater proportions. In 2004-2020 alone, over 230,000 citizens left the Republic of Moldova for good. This is over 8% of the population. Also, persons close to the retirement age return from abroad and this will exert enormous pressure on the pension fund in the near future, the rector of the Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova (ASEM) Alexandru Stratan stated in a public lecture given at the Academy of Sciences, IPN reports.
In the public lecture “Recent evolutions and economic development prospects of the Republic of Moldova”, corresponding member of the Academy Alexandru Stratan presented the factors that contributed to a higher rate of inflation in Moldova. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic affected the economic situation in the country the most.
“The Russo-Ukrainian war affected both regional security and world security. We haven’t yet recovered well after the pandemic, when the supply chains were disrupted, and now they became even more fragile. The war created additional pressure on particular goods we imported mainly from three countries, Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. The inflationary pressure also had a significant impact. The prices of energy and agrifood products continued to rise, leading to big rises throughout the value chain. Inflation led to the loss of purchasing power of citizens and increased the vulnerability of the social sections. Many of those who formed part of the average section that was rather fragile fell into the category of those with small incomes,” said Alexandru Stratan.
According to him, the annual average rise in consumer prices in 2022 is 30%. In October alone, the consumer prices grew by 34.6% on last October. Moldova is projected to have the highest rate of inflation in Europe by the end of this year. Moldova is on top of international rankings by the high economic and financial risks. This affects the country’s investment attractiveness. The economic growth for the next few years is projected at 2-2.5%.
The ASEM rector noted the lack of able to work people is a serious problem that Moldova will experience in the near future and this will lead to a major discrepancy between those who contribute to the pension fund and those who receive social benefits.
“In 2004-2020, over 230,000 citizens left the Republic of Moldova for good. This is a 8.3% reduction in the population. According to demographic data, the children, studying young people and able to work people are those who leave. We also see the return of people of pre-retirement and retirement ages. Those who need to contribute to the pension budget leave, while those who will exert pressure on the budget in the future return,” noted Alexandru Stratan.
