Moldova’s external public debt is of 34 billion lei, while the internal debt is of 25 billion lei. The debt represents 25% of the GDP. This means that each citizen of the Republic of Moldova, including the children, has a personal debt of over 22,000 lei, about 13,000 of which is the external debt and the rest is the internal debt to Moldovan banks. The calculations were presented by Platforma DA MP Igor Munteanu, who heads the Parliament’s commission on public finance control, in a press beefing, IPN reports.
The MP noted that the budget revenues compared with 2018 rose by 3.5 billion lei, while the expenditure grew by 4.4 billion lei. “The Republic of Moldova borrows a lot for current consumption and less for development,” stated Igor Munteanu, noting that instead of benefiting from grants, Moldova this year lives on the loans taken out by the Government. The good loans do not come to Moldova owing to the investment climate and the quality of governance. For economic development, this situation means additional costs.
In another development, Igor Munteanu said that after examining the audit activities of the Court of Auditors and fulfilling the recommendations coming from this institution, the commission identified three problematic factors at the state agencies and institutions, related to managerial irresponsibility and non-observance of the legal framework, inconsistency in accounting policies applied as part of financial reporting and non-implementation of the good governance principles.
The compiled audit reports point to serious deviations from the legislation. The identified accounting and financial reporting mistakes total about 47 billion lei, over 32 billion lei of which in Chisinau alone. Such deviations were identified at Moldsilva Agency, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure.
Another violation is related to improper public procurement as a result of which about 108 million lei was lost in 2018-2020. The public property was managed inefficiently and some of the lots could become the property of “thieves”.
The National Regional Development Fund holds the lead by the volume of wasted money. This spent hundreds of millions of lei by on projects that weren’t completed, including projects to supply a number of cities and towns with water and health programs.
The commission treated with special attention such resonant cases as the privatization of Air Moldova, concession, by a public-private partnership, of the Chisinau International Airport, Tutun-CTC, Gările și Stațiile Auto. The Court of Auditors identified abuses at the concession stage, generated by the complicity between functionaries who then managed the Public Property Agency, which distorted the contest results. Similar illegalities were found at Air Moldova.
The newly founded commission on public finance control started work during the current legislature.
