Moldovan parliament will examine the decision-making process to control inflation and monetary policy and the effectiveness of oil products price regulation, while the government will introduce trading rules specific to emergency periods.
This is provided for by the relevant recommendations of the Supreme Security Council (CSS) after Friday's discussions on economic and social consequences of price increases and risks to the national economy, the impact of rising energy prices, the functioning of competitive mechanisms to ensure the efficiency of the energy and food markets. According to President Maia Sandu, members of the CSS discussed a very important subject for the entire society - high inflation and price increases, assuring that this issue is on the agenda of the authorities every day. The head of state recalled that several days ago, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva drew attention to the fact that inflation is a serious and big problem, especially for countries where imports make up a large share of domestic consumption, countries that import most of their energy resources and have suffered from the war in Ukraine. "We see that according to all three important causes of inflation declared by the International Monetary Fund, Moldova is unfortunately in this category," the head of state said. At the same time, she pointed out that besides these external effects, which the country cannot influence, there are to a greater extent some internal elements of price increases, which were discussed at the CSS meeting. Many state agencies submitted reports and analyses, and accordingly, some decisions were made. "Clarification was sought from sectors where there were indications that intervention was not done in time, or where monopolies still existed and were exercising their dominant position," President said. Above all, she said, the country needs to support the efforts of small and medium-sized enterprises in all sectors, including agri-food. "We still import a lot of products instead of producing them ourselves, which would protect us to some extent from these inflationary trends," Maia Sandu said. She noted that, at the same time, the authorities need to provide targeted financial assistance to the most vulnerable segments of society, most affected by rising consumer prices, and the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection is working on these targeted programs to help citizens. "We also need to increase the efficiency of companies in the energy sector - and we've been talking about this for a long time. Their operating costs need to come down. We cannot tolerate the continued inclusion in tariffs of inefficiencies in the management of these companies. We will seek to encourage private initiative so that businessmen can develop their businesses, so that as many people as possible can open businesses here and produce more for their own consumption and for export. At the same time, we will not tolerate attempts to monopolize and use the dominant position in the market to make superprofits, especially in crisis situations, like now," said the head of state. President noted that the CSS members have made a number of recommendations after the debate. They stipulate that parliament will establish a commission to study the decision-making process in controlling inflation and monetary policy over the past 18 months, as well as a commission to study the effectiveness of regulation in the liquid fuel sector. At the same time, the Ministry of Economy, together with other responsible institutions, will analyze and remove restrictions and obstacles for small producers in local and improvised markets. Eliminating inefficient chains of intermediaries, which do nothing but monopolize distribution channels and unreasonably inflate prices, is another task of the government. At the same time, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development is tasked with developing a policy to ensure the efficiency of operators' operating costs in the energy market. Similarly, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development will have to develop a policy to increase the transparency of shareholders and accountability of companies in the energy sector. The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection will have to develop a mechanism of targeted compensation to combat price increases and other forms of social assistance. At the same time, the Ministry of Economy will have to develop a centralized assistance program for the development of small and medium-sized enterprises in order to increase the transparency and visibility of financing opportunities. The government, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development will develop and enact trade rules specific to emergency periods and atypical inflationary expectations. "We will continue to discuss these topics next week. Also next week, the regular meeting of the Supreme Security Council will take place at which we will discuss food security. State authorities will continue to take necessary measures to protect citizens from the shocks of crises our country is facing and to encourage economic development," Maia Sandu said. // 27.05.2022 – InfoMarket
