The law on the liberalization of capital and fiscal stimulation or the so-called ‘amnesty law’ is the surprise of 2016. This initiative appeared in secret, being hidden from the foreign partners, and it is simply cynical for this to appear after the banking fraud was made the burden of ordinary taxpayers, ex-minister of finance Veaceslav Negruta stated in a public discussion at IPN entitled “Economic year 2016 in the view of entrepreneurs and experts”.
The expert noted the bill was already registered when the IMF mission came to Chisinau, but the authorities didn’t propose this for discussion. “It was registered on December 1, but the IMF was kept at a distance. It was discovered by accident. This makes us think that the beneficiaries of this project are 8-10% of the population interested in legalizing property. The other 90% of the population have property registered in their name and they are not interested in legalizing this,” stated the ex-minister.
According to Negruta, even if the way in which the bill appeared is ignored, its essence is unexplainable in the context of the bank fraud and there are suspicions that the goal is to legalize this fraud. 2016 is the year when the internal debt rose over three times by the simple conversion of others’ debts into state debt. It is about the National Bank’s debt of 13 billion lei, which was transformed into state debt. “Someone else’s debt was made the people’s burden and those who didn’t pay taxes now want to be simply amnestied and their property to be legalized,” he said.
The expert also said the withdrawal of investments from the Moldovan economy is alarming. “I presume that this anticipates somehow the entrance into Moldova of capital that will be legalized by such bills that are intensely promoted. Investments actually mean credibility, jobs and other aspects and, if we have a minus, something is not good,” stated Negruta.
According to him, 2016 witnessed trends to monopolize different sectors and areas and it is not excluded that nationalization will be seen besides monopolization. “The given hypothesis derives from the fact that particular groups of interests that are parallel to the state ones have overlapped each other. These groups are inside state institutions and for them it looks like a nationalization model that will make them feel comfortable, as it was in the Soviet period. There are signs that such tendencies persist,” stated the ex-minister.
As to the business sector, the expert said the investors are uncertain. “It is enough to go through several streets in Chisinau and we will see a multitude of offices put up for sale or for rent and nobody hurries to base their activities there. The phenomenon about which I speak has been seen during the last nine months. The people feel a fiscal burden and injustice prevailing and decide not to stay here,” said Negruta.
He warned the lawmakers that the bad decisions in economy cost a lot and have an impact on the whole generation.
The public discussion “Economic year 2016 in the view of entrepreneurs and experts” is the 68th installment of the series of debates “Developing political culture by public debates” that are held with the support of the Hanns Seidel Foundation of Germany.
