The increase in the electricity and gas tariffs is economically reasonable, given the depreciation of the national currency, but is unfair towards the country’s people, who will have to spend more on utilities at a time when the salaries and pensions remain low, economic expert Tatiana Lariushin stated for IPN. She noted that the rises are even more serious now that 4/5 of the population became poorer.

The expert said the poor people had paid for public utilities with difficulty, but now will have to look for new incomes to be able to cover them. The Ministry of Labor, Social Protection and Family and the local public authorities should have been consulted before raising the tariffs. These rises will lead to higher debts for public utilities.

Last week, the National Agency for Energy Regulation approved a 30% rise in electric power and natural gas tariffs. Economic expert Corina Gaibu has told IPN that the people’s expenses will rise as much. If a household until now paid about 300 lei for electricity a month, they will now pay approximately 400 lei. But the higher electricity and gas tariffs will also lead to other price rises and the burden on end-users will be heavier.

To economize on power, the people are urged to use it more efficiency, namely to disconnect the domestic appliances when they are not used as these consume 10% to 60% of power when they are on standby. Energy-efficient lighting should be used in the home as the electricity consumed by classical lamps represents about 15% of the electricity bill. There should be also purchased energy-efficient appliances.