Democratic Party leader Vlad Plahotniuc has announced at a press briefing on Thursday that the Government is “assuming responsibility” to index pensions by 5.3% on April 1 and to pay out an Easter season 600 lei in aid for the underprivileged.

The 5.3% indexation is double than originally announced, as it takes into account inflation in the last three years. Some categories of pension beneficiaries will receive indexations as high as 15%, in addition to the 10% increase at the beginning of the year. Such raises are unprecedented in Moldova, declared Plahotniuc.

The 600 lei Easter aid will be paid out to those who receive monthly pensions and other benefits of 2000 lei or smaller.

The decision to make these payments using the procedure of “assuming responsibility”, that is by bypassing Parliament approval, has been taken so that pensioners can enjoy indexed pensions and the lump-sum payments in April, too, despite the uncertainty with the post-election situation, Plahotniuc explained.