Moldovan government decided to increase pensions, one-off allowance

Chisinau, 3 September /MOLDPRES/- Today, Prime Minister Ion Chicu chaired a cabinet meeting and made amendments to budget and approved a number of important projects for farmers and pensioners, the government’s communication and protocol department has reported.

The first issue on the agenda was the approval of the draft law on rectification of the state budget for 2020. Minister of Finance said that changes were needed to adjust budget indicators to revenue, expenditure and deficit, taking into account the evolution of the national economy under the pandemic and natural disasters.

Under the document, revenues decrease by 649.5 million lei, expenditures by 1 billion 856 million lei, and the deficit is reduced by 1 billion 207 million lei. Therefore, the revenues of the state budget for 2020 will be 37.2 billion lei, the expenditures - 53.2 billion lei, and the deficit of almost 16 billion lei.

During the meeting, the draft decision was voted, which provides for the indexation from October 1 of pensions and other social benefits, regardless of their type and size. Thus, from October 1, 2020, the amount of the minimum pension for the age limit is 1,143.57 lei.

Teachers working under the conditions imposed by the pandemic, with a higher workload and extended program, will also be paid. In this regard, about 100 million lei will be allocated. Another 31 million lei will be allocated for providing disinfectants to educational institutions.

To support agricultural economic agents affected by bad weather conditions, the government came up with a package of measures on increased accessibility to financial resources by: setting good conditions for application to the Interest Subsidy Program and VAT Repayment Program, moratorium on tax audit by 31 December 2020, as well as implementation of the Interest Subsidy Program.

Minister of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment Ion Perju presented the draft law for ratification of the Financing Agreement between the Republic of Moldova and the International Fund for Agricultural Development to implement the project Improving capacities for rural transformation. The project aims to boost economic growth in the area, by investing in irrigation infrastructure, improving rural access roads, offering grants and loans for investment in market infrastructure etc. The loan amount is 18.93 million euros, and the grant amount is 5.53 million US dollars.

The cabinet approved the draft law on the application of the Agreement between the Republic of Moldova and the Russian Federation in the social security. The document regulates the collaboration procedures between the authorities of both states to exchange documents and information, to set the right to social insurance benefits.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration submitted for approval the Protocol amending the Arrangement for the application of the Agreement in the social security between Moldova and Estonia. It provides for the replacement of the pension of incapacity for work granted by the Republic of Estonia to persons residing in the country. A provisional rule sees further granting disability pension to persons who have established their residence in Moldova until the expiration of the deadline of incapacity for work.