By increasing minimum pension, way is paved for raising retirement age, opinions

11.08.2021 07:00
5701
3 minute(s)

Economist Roman Chirca is bewildered at the swiftness with which the Government promotes the initiative to increase the minimum pension to 2,000 lei. According to him, this insistence can be explained by the Government’s intention to prepare society for eventual raising of the retirement age. At the same time, economist Viorel Gârbu said the authorities should stop borrowing excessively and should restart the economy’s engines so that the country is not dependent on foreign loans, IPN reports.

According to Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilița, the raising of the minimum pension to 2,000 lei from October 1 will cost the state budget for this year 600 million lei, while the sum needed in 2022 will be at least 2 billion lei. Economist Roman Chirca said the insistence with which this decision is pursued in a difficult financial period is due to the authorities’ intention to later increase the retirement age.

“It is evident why the minimum pension is to be raised to 2,000 lei as we will immediately witness the raising of the retirement age. The goal of this initiative is to counterbalance the emotions in society. On the one hand, the retirement age will be raised until 2028, as it was earlier envisioned, and the minimum pension will be increased instead,” economic expert Roman Chirca stated in the program “Moldova live” on the public TV channel Moldova 1.

At the same time, Viorel Gârbu considers the Government’s strategy to borrow “exorbitant” sums from the foreign partners is mistaken. According to him, in the long run such a policy can establish dependence on foreign financial assistance.

“The Governments base their results on foreign loans. This is an erroneous message and such type of politics discourages the citizens in the long run as the country is managed not according to the people’s priorities, but depending on foreign conditionality. We must boring things in the fiscal system in order, in terms of levying of taxes. The banking sector should lend more to the economy, not for consumption as it is done now,” stated Viorel Gârbu.

Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilița said the Republic of Moldova is to receive US$236 million from the International Monetary Fund and another €50 million from the European Union. Also, in September Moldova will start negotiations on a new three-year program with the IMF.