Moldova’s financial resources are close to the limit. Prime Minister Ion Chicu said the pensions and salaries to public sector employees are now paid from the revenues collected by the Customs Service during the first two months of this year and from a transfer received from the International Monetary Fund, IPN reports.
“The state budget revenues as of March 17 have halved in value. We can now pay pensions, salaries exclusively from what we collected additionally during the first two months of this year. Over the first two months, the Customs Service collected by 27% more revenues than in the corresponding period last year. We survive on those resources. We do not print money. We live on what we collect,” Premier Chicu stated in the program “Key Issue” on NTV Moldova channel.
He noted that Moldova is not a country that issues currency and the printing of more Moldovan lei will not save the situation.
“We are not a state that issues currency. We do not issue euros and dollars so as to place as much as we want on the market as some will exchange these at the exchange rate set by us. If we issue massively lei, this means inflation and the pensioners on 1,500-2,000 lei will be unable to buy at least bread. We will not allow this. There is no use printing money. Things will not change if you have 2,000 lei or 10,000 lei in the pocket, but can buy one loaf of bread only with this money,” stated the official.
Premier Chicu said that owing to the pandemic, the state budget revenues decreased considerably and they put hope in a loan of 4 billion lei from the IMF.
“We currently live on the revenues we collected ourselves. The only transfer we received was made at the start of this year by the International Monetary Fund, to the value of US$20 million. We accumulated that money in the first two months of the year and used it to pay salaries for April and a particular amount remained for May. In the April 17 meeting, the IMF Board is to approve a loan of 4 billion lei. The money would be allocated by the end of April,” stated Ion Chicu.
He noted that Moldova cannot buy protective face masks to distribute them free to the population. The budgetary situation is precarious.
“The masks in Moldova are purchased for the medical system, for all the institutions, the police. The state cannot buy masks for offering them free to the citizens. There are no such possibilities at present and the people should understand this”.
