One should have rich fantasy to believe that budget will be agreed, Ionita

“Theoretically, the budget for next year could be adopted by the end of this year, but one should have rich fantasy to believe this,” Liberal-Democrat MP Veaceslav Ionita, the head of the parliamentary commission for economy, budget and finance, told the reporters, Info-Prim Neo reports. Even if Parliament does not manage to pass the budget in three readings by this yearend, the state institutions will not be affected, said the MP. “In such a case, the budgets of all the state institutions will be by 10% larger compared with the corresponding period of the previous year,” Veaceslav Ionita said. The local budgets are approved separately, while the social insurance budget is supplemented with funds from the state budget in case of deficit. Asked about the pensions and salaries, Ionita said they will be increased from the larger collections into the budget, including the money saved when paying interest on foreign loans after renegotiating the interest rates. He also said that the new regulations on social allowances approved by the Government cover 80% of the pensioners in Moldova. The Government increased the state budget expenditure for this year by 426.3 million lei. It allocated an additional 112.8 million lei for paying benefits in November and December. 521,000 persons with pensions of under 900 lei, 30,000 deprived families and 60,000 budget-funded employees with salaries lower than 700 lei will receive by 130 lei a month in assistance during the cold period of the year.