Prime Minister Ion Chicu said all the persons whose pensions are lower than the minimum subsistence level of 1,726 lei will benefit from the second indexation of pensions set for October 1. It was initially planned to raise the ceiling of 1,726 lei for 2021 and 2022, but these provisions were excluded when the relevant bill was given a final reading. The measure came in the wake of the discussions with the IMF, but speculations should be avoided as the ceiling will be anyway raised, IPN reports.
“Why was the proposal to exclude the rise for 2021 submitted? Because we are a responsible Government. We cooperate with the International Monetary Fund and remitted the initial bill to them. They asked us to annul such a move until we do not have the macroeconomic forecast for 2021-2022. But this move is on our agenda,” Premier Chicu stated after the meeting with President Igor Dodon and Parliament Speaker Zinaida Grechanyi.
Ion Chicu noted the upping of ceiling next year will be discussed in the process of drafting the budget for 2021. This aspect will also be discussed with the IMF mission that will come to Chisinau on January 22. “We have partners with whom we discuss. But I repeat that no one should speculate that fewer persons than initially announced will benefit from the second indexation in 2020. All those entitled will benefit from indexation twice. In 2021, we will raise the ceiling. We will yet decide how much,” said the official.
President Igor Dodon said the indexation of pensions twice a year, as it was promised, starting with this year is something real. “Pensions will be indexed on April 1 and on October 1. The indexation of pensions on October 1 is aimed at narrowing the discrepancy between the small and large pensions,” he stated.
According to the authorities, the April 1 indexation will cover all the beneficiaries and will be based on the current procedure, depending on the average consumer price index for the last three years. More than 400,000 persons whose pensions are lower than the minimum subsistence level will benefit from the October 1 indexation during the first implementation year – 2020.
