After seven months, the Chisinau Municipal Council (CMC) on Tuesday passed the budget for 2024 in the first reading. The draft budget was voted unanimously by all the 44 councilors attending the meeting, IPN reports.

The head of the General Finance Division Olesea Psenitski said that the revenues were projected at 7.717 billion lei, with transfers from the state budget in the amount of 3.976 billion lei. The expenditure will be 8.365 billion lei. The deficit of 647.7 million lei will be covered from the balance of funds in the municipal budget account formed at the end of the 2023 budget year, in the amount of 175.3 million lei, as well as with internal and external loans.

“The PAS group on the Chisinau Municipal Council obtained the fulfilment of most of the financial requests intended for the residents of Chisinau and unlocked the situation. Given that Chisinau has not had a budget for seven months, we will support the budget in the first reading and will come up with amendments in the second reading,” the head of the PAS group Zinaida Popa said before the vote.

The head of the Party of Socialists’ group Adrian Lebedinski said that they had very tough debates today. “Despite the ambitions that some have, we must make the living conditions for the people as good as possible. That’s why we decided that we, the representatives of the PSRM, will vote on the budget,” said Adrian Lebedinski. For the second reading, several proposals will be submitted and each amendment will be voted on separately.

Corneliu Pântea, deputy chairman of the National Alternative Movement Party, noted that the municipal budget was drafted by professionals and that it is a realistic budget that allows the municipality to continue the initiated projects. “Let’s all together support the draft budget of Chisinau municipality in the first and second readings,” urged the councilor.

Update /16:43/ In the same meeting, the councilors gave a second reading to the draft budget. Unlike the first reading, 37 local elected officials voted “for”. Practically all the amendments submitted by the PAS group were supported, not yet those of the PSRM group. In protest, the Socialist councilors abstained from voting.