Government amends budget for this year

The incomes and expenditure included in the state budget for 2007 will be increased by over 900 mln lei. The Government approved a relevant bill on Friday and will submit it to the Parliament for consideration. At the same meeting, the Government approved amendments to the social insurance budget law and to the law on mandatory health insurance funds for 2007. According to Minister of Finance Mihai Pop, the revenues from income taxes will be raised by about 128 mln lei, from VAT by 361 mln lei, from taxes on foreign trade by 73 mln lei etc. The Government approved additional expenses for paying salaries, pensions and scholarships, for repairing the roads, for servicing the state debt following the rise in the interest rate on internal credits and for other budgetary necessities. The Government will also spend 39 mln lei for acquiring headquarters for the Moldovan Embassy in Prague. An additional 9.7 mln lei will be allocated to Teleradio-Moldova Company for paying the rent of circuits and transmitters. The road fund was supplemented with over 10 mln lei. Maria Borta, chairman of the National Social Insurance House, said that the social insurance budget for this year is by over 213 mln lei larger than the initial plan. The rise in incomes was influenced by additional deductions from the tax for legalizing the capital. The expenditure of the pension fund was increased by 206 mln lei, as the pensions were raised by 20.7% and not 18.25% as planned. The incomes of the compulsory health insurance funds for 2007 exceeded by 55.3 mln lei the projections for nine months. The spending was increased by about 52 mln lei. It is for the first time that the sums planed to cover the compensated medicines exceeded the projections. More money was spent on the hospitalization of people, especially in summer. An additional sum of 4.7 mln lei was allocated to cover the expenses of the Emergency Hospital.