Moldovan finance ministry presents priorities for 2019

Chisinau, 20 December /MOLDPRES/- The Ministry of Finance received revenues to the state budget worth 34,081.0 million lei in 2018, up by 2,879.5 million lei than last year. Finance Minister Ion Chicu presented the data at a news conference yesterday.

According to the minister, the increase in revenues has led to a reduction of the budget deficit in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to 1.2%, compared to the 2.5% approved in early 2018. "The state debt balance on 31 December 2018 will not exceed 54,365.6 million lei. Tangible progress was also recorded on the fiscal dimension. From 1 October, the income of private people is taxed at a single rate of 12%, being a significant decrease compared to the previous tax system that set a maximum tax rate of 18%. The share of social security contributions paid by private-sector employers has been also reduced from 23% to 18%, as well as the VAT rate was reduced to 10% for HORECA companies. At the same time, the exemptions for private people were also increased up to 24 thousand lei annually," Chicu said.

The management of the institution noted that another important achievement was the approval of the new law on the unitary pay system in the budgetary sector. “"Payroll reform has brought salary increase from 7% to over 100% for public sector staff. Another success story is the First Home programme, where over 1,000 credits have already been granted for the purchase of a home. At the same time, the number of benefit recipients under the First Home 2 and First Home 3 programme for public sector employees and families with children continues to grow, there are currently over 470 applications and around 400 beneficiaries receive monthly compensation," Chicu said.

Another programme launched this year is Job Subsidy, with five requests from economic agents amounting to 82.9 million lei. At the same time, the existing programs have been expanded, in which compensations were granted to persons subjected to political repression - amounting to 22.5 million lei for 75 beneficiaries and one-off allowances for construction or purchase of housing - worth 3.3 million lei for 73 beneficiaries.

However, management of the ministry presented its priorities for 2019. It is about ensuring budgetary stability and continued reforms, ensuring budget revenue collection, supporting businesses, reviewing taxes, optimising VAT, promoting effective tax administration and voluntary compliance; supporting young people in business and launching new programs with a social impact; development and improvement of the electronic procurement system.