Even if pensions will be indexed by only 15%, the purchasing power of pensioners is maintained as the value of the minimum pension was earlier increased considerably, explained Minister of Labor and Social Protection Alexei Buzu, referring to the decision to index pensions by 15% at a time when inflation was over 30%. The minister said that if the Constitutional Court declares the indexation of pensions by a percentage lower than the rate of inflation unconstitutional, the authorities will comply with the decision, IPN reports.
The minister noted the pensions, especially the minimum pension, have grown by 92% since 2021. The social insurance budget is unable to cover the indexation this year and the higher deficit was covered with state budget funds.
“The cumulative inflation in 2021 and 2022 was 48.6%. So, the minimum pension rose much more than the rate of inflation. It’s true that the rate of inflation last December was over 30%, but we must realize that we are in a crisis year. The amounts collected into the social insurance budget rose by only 27%. So, the pensions grew much faster than the pensions compared with the amounts collected into this budget. The social insurance budget this year is of almost 7 billion lei and we cover this deficit with state budget allocations. This means fewer investments in health, agriculture, the road fund. Therefore, given the difficult context, the Government took such a decision,” Alexei Buzu stated in the program “Résumé” on RliveTV channel.
The minister admitted that the authorities identified funds for increasing the salaries of ministers by 8,000 lei, but noted that the amount needed in this case is not as big as in the case of the indexation of pensions according to the rate of inflation.
“Ministers’ pays increased, but we have 16 ministers. In the Republic of Moldova, we have over 660,000 pensioners. Even if the pensions are raised by only 50 lei, the total amount is very large. The indexation this year cost 3.2 billion lei. The indexation alone cost more than the investments in the Regional and Local Development Fund, more than the Road Fund. The purchasing power of pensioners was maintained. The inflation this year is expected to be 6%. So, in the medium term pensions will continue growing,” stated Alexei Buzu.
He noted that the Government obeys the law and, if the Constitutional Court rules that the decision to increase pensions, by derogation from the law, by a percentage lower than the rate of inflation, which was challenged by the parliamentary opposition, the decision will be reviewed.
The pensions will be indexed by 15% as from April 1. The minimum old-age pension will be 2,620 lei, by 342 lei more than in 2022.
