Parliament passed in the first reading a bill that provides for a 10% increase in the base salary of budget-funded employees. The Communist MPs, who drafted the bill, argued this measure will help the people working in the budget sphere to cope with the higher electric power and natural gas tariffs, IPN reports.

Oleg Reidman said the 10% rise in the base salary of budget-funded employees means an increase of 70-100 lei. The higher electricity and natural gas tariffs will lead to an increase of about 76 lei in the costs for public utilities per capita. A sum of about 400 million lei will be provided additionally from the state budget for the purpose.

Oxana Domenti, who heads the Parliament’s commission on social protection, health and family, said the Government didn’t endorse this bill for the reason that the financial resources needed to cover the pay raises weren’t identified. The measure costs approximately 35 million lei a month. A number of 171,000 people will benefit from this measure.