Communist MPs and the parliamentary Opposition have entered into controversy over the 2008 Budget Law. While the Opposition believes that the law has overlooked the true needs of the country and represents a tool for satisfying political interests and putting pressure on dissenting local authorities, the Communists consider that the budget is mirroring the economic and social progress that Moldova has seen with the Communists in power. [Eugenia Ostapciuc, the leader of the Communist parliamentary group], stated that since in power, PCRM has bolstered economic growth and social development. The GDP has risen by 6 or 7 percent each year, the State Budget enlarged from 3.5 billion lei in 2001 to 14 billion projected for the next year. Furthermore, tax revenue has constantly and significantly beat forecasts. These results prove the correctness and consistence of the policies run by the ruling party, while the 2008 Budget Law serves as a financial expression of the implemented reforms. In her words, the document contains real figures, carefully calculated, which reflect the objective possibilities of the national economy at is current stage and can foster the good functioning of all the government-funded sectors. [On the other hand, the leader of the Moldova Noastra Alliance Party, Serafim Urecheanu], asserts that the budget law draft is an unprecedented expression of political egocentrism, inconsistency and excessive desire to acquire the resources of the state. The Government produced a document to satisfy the whims of President Voronin and his retinue, he said. Conceptually, the revenues expected for 2008 are from the start strongly affected by the three presidential initiatives on economy liberalisation. In what concerns expenses, governmental subsidies distributed on political criteria will centralise the resources and will suppress the autonomy of the local authorities. In Urecheanu’s opinion, the Law runs counter to Moldova’s priorities in carrying out reforms and in managing public funds, in spurring economic growth and in integrating into the European community. Urecheanu further stated that AMN would resort to all the available means to impede the bill from being signed into law. [Democrat MP Valeriu Guma] said the idea of having a zero tax rate on reinvested income would cut budget revenues, with a big part of the burden to be shouldered by the local authorities. Even if the loss will be covered by governmental subsidies, the move will still reduce the already limited local financial autonomy. At the same time, the MP says, the tax policies carried out in recent years are not sufficiently harmonised. Another particularity to which Guma referred is the budget’s dependency on indirect taxes, in particular on VAT on imports. He said this situation makes the budget increasingly vulnerable in the event of a drop in consumption, since it is not clear yet how the tax policies run by the Government will offset these risks. [Vlad Cubreacov, chairman of the Christian-Democrat faction], said that the bill is not very balanced, and the ones to suffer the most are the ordinary people and the local authorities. He remarked that since 2003 the Government has been forecasting revenues by 10 to 20 percent lower than the real ones, which indicates either its incapacity to make accurate predictions or the intention to embezzle taxpayers’ money. Parliament on Friday passed the Budget Law draft in two readings with a majority vote of the Communist MPs.