The state will not borrow money to offer subsidies to the people as it has received assistance from the foreign partners and a large part of the money coming from outside the country in the form of grants will be used for the purpose, the head of the Parliament’s commission on social protection, health and family Dan Perciun stated in a public debate staged by IPN.
The PAS MP noted that the subsidization program “Meter Assistance” implemented this year is better targeted than the mechanism applied last year and covers also the electricity costs. This way, the very vulnerable and vulnerable consumers will also receive electricity subsidies, which are primarily intended for people from rural areas, mainly from December as Premier Energy bills permanently, not on a particular date. The balance accumulated in November will be included in the bills for December.
According to Dan Perciun, the government tried to do so as to enable the citizens to pay the bills through subsidies and cold-month allowances. The cost of the subsidization program is of 5 billion lei and this is two times more than the cost of the program applied last year. Besides, the cold-month allowances will total about 1 billion lei. This sum of about 6 billion lei represents almost half of the pension fund.
Asked if there is enough money for subsidies when the energy resources can yet rise in price, the MP assured the state has funds. “Money will be allocated from the state budget and from foreign assistance. For example, Germany offered €40 million to us. Italy, Switzerland and Sweden pledged € 22 million, while the EU – €75 million. A large part of this money will go to provide subsidies,” said Dan Perciun, noting the German grant is enough to fully pay subsidies for November.
He also said that the state borrows money only to be able to make investments in the energy sector and in infrastructure, but borrows from the foreign market. For example, loans were raised for modernizing Moldova’s Railways, for thermally insulating buildings. “As long as these loans are used for investment, they should not scare us as this is something normal. It depends on what we use the money and at what cost we borrow,” said the PAS MP Dan Perciun.
The public debate entitled “Subsidies in times of crisis. Could these be higher? Who could offer more, from what sources and at what cost?” staged by IPN was the 268th installment of IPN’s project “Developing Political Culture through Public Debates” that is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
