The average electricity bill will increase by 240 lei per month for each family, from 320 lei to 560 lei, after the charges were increased by 75%, economist Vyacheslav Ioniță announced. "Although it could have been worse, the impact is significant for every family in Moldova," Ioniță said, stressing that the increase will considerably affect household budgets, IPN reports.
According to the analysis carried out by the economic expert, "the population of Moldova paid 4.4-4.5 billion lei annually for electricity. After the increase in charges, the total amount will rise by about 3 billion lei, reaching 7.5 billion lei annually."
This increase will also influence inflation, adding about 2 percentage points to the annual inflation rate, which could thus be close to 10%.
As for the people most affected by this increase, Vyacheslav Ioniță stressed that "pensioners will feel the impact the most, given that pensions will be indexed below the inflation rate."
Although the authorities promise additional financial support, the expert believes that the burden of higher charges will be felt especially by those with fixed incomes.
"It is time to save electricity where possible and prepare for a year of financial challenges," warned the expert.
The National Agency for Energy Regulation on Friday, January 3, approved the increase in electricity charges. Thus, the charge for consumers served by Premier Energy was set at 4.10 lei/kWh, and residents in northern Moldova supplied by FEE Nord will pay 4.68 lei/kWh.
