The state budget for next year includes 5.5 billion lei in grant funding provided generously by Moldova’s foreign partners, said Minister of Finance Dumitru Budianschi. According to him, the current government enjoys the foreign partners’ support and this credit of trust should be used to the maximum so that the non-reimbursable financial assistance is substituted with investments in the Republic of Moldova, IPN reports.
Under the 2023 state budget law, 154 projects financed with external funds will be implemented in Moldova next year. The costs associated with the implementation of these projects were assessed at 4.5 billion lei. The most important such projects refer to road infrastructure and the energy sector. The minister said that besides loans, Moldova benefits from considerable amounts in grant funding.
“We have 5.5 billion lei in grant funding. It is a very large sum and it comes from our partners in support. Our country enjoys enormous sympathy in the world and it is very important to keep this capital. We must show that we are responsible and know how to spend this money. I’m sure that the partners will continue to help us and not necessarily with grants as grants cannot be provided ceaselessly,” Dumitru Budianschi stated in the program “Reflection Points” on Vocea Basarabiei station.
The minister also explained the necessity of raising the excise duty on cigarettes by 25% in 2023. He said that Moldova should align itself with the European standards on tobacco control.
“Through the Association Agreement, we undertook to reach a duty of €95 per 1,000 cigarettes by 2025. In time, we made effort to avoid such a commitment. We are a candidate state to entry into the European Union. For us, this is a strategic objective. This is what we are aiming for. We hope the people will give up smoking as this is a policy pursued by the Ministry of Health, while the level of excise duties is an instrument by which smoking is discouraged,” stated the minister.
Earlier, operators from the tobacco products market expressed their dissatisfaction with the authorities’ decision to increase the excise duty on cigarettes. They said the rise will lead to the doubling of the black market in tobacco and the state budget will this way fail to accumulate millions of lei in revenues.
