Mayors, functionaries of Finance Ministry and local experts formulate about 30 recommendations for fiscal decentralisation

Mayors of Moldovan localities, functionaries of the Finance Ministry, local experts and civil society have formulated about 30 recommendations on fiscal decentralisation and insurance autonomy at a forum themed Fiscal Decentralisation: Challenges for Moldova. The director of Business Consulting Institute (BCI), Mihai Roscovan, has told journalists that the recommendations are part of three categories: financial autonomy and interbudgetary relations system; local economic development in the context of local decentralisation, local autonomy and insurance of social services. Roscovan noted that these recommendations will be systematised, will be table to central authorities and unveiled at eight mini-forums in Moldova aimed to disseminate the recommendations. The BCI director underlined that the recommendations comply with actions needed to implement the European Union’s Action Plan for Moldova. Finance Minister Mihai Pop said that the success and outcome of the forum „will be known later, when some relations and ties between different levels of local public administration in the area of rights, competences and responsibilities will be reconsidered after an in-depth analysis of proposals launched at the forum.” He stressed that some recommendations could be turned down. The project Fiscal Decentralisation: Challenges for Moldova was launched in January 2005 and will be completed in June 2006 as a strategy document on fiscal decentralisation, which will also include a concrete action plan on successful implementation of this process, according to experts. The project is supported by the Open Society Institute, Soros-Moldova Foundation, USAID and UNDP.