The draft law on the state budget for 2023 has been considered by the relevant parliamentary commission and will be proposed for approval to deputies on December 12.
According to the press service of the parliament, in particular, the document was discussed on Friday by the commission on economy, budget and finance. The Law on the State Budget for 2023 was developed by the government in the unprecedented conditions of the energy and economic crisis, the refugee crisis, as well as in the context of inflationary processes with a pronounced impact on the budget. These circumstances led to a focus not only on short-term measures to improve the economy, but also on long-term reforms that would generate resources for sustainable growth. Accordingly, when drafting the law on the state budget for the next year, the goals of the National Development Strategy “European Moldova 2030” were taken into account. The draft law on the state budget for 2023 was drawn up on the basis of the forecasts of the Ministry of Economy, agreed with IMF experts, providing for economic growth of 2% next year and an average annual inflation rate of 15.7%. It is planned that in 2023 the state budget revenues will amount to 64.9 billion lei, which is 9.3% more than in the current year, and expenditures - 83.2 billion lei, which is 12.5% more. The state budget deficit in 2023 will amount to 18.3 billion lei, it will be covered from internal and external sources. VAT will be the most important source of revenues, accounting for more than half of their total. Revenues from grants to the state budget next year are expected at the level of 5.5 billion lei, which will account for 8.5% of total revenues. The main policy measures envisaged in the draft state budget for 2023 are: providing compensation to pay energy bills; granting a monthly allowance to state employees in the amount of 1,300 lei; providing compensation payments to people whose monthly salary will be less than 4,000 lei; implementation of the First Home (Prima Casa) program; START for Youth and PARE 1+1 programs; ensuring an increase in financial norms for the nutrition of children and students in educational institutions; increase in scholarships for schoolchildren, students and athletes; support for the activities of theaters, circus and concert organizations, etc. Of the total state budget expenditures for 2023, about 51.1% are transfers to other budgets: the state social insurance budget; Mandatory Health Insurance Fund, local public authorities, which is 42 billion lei. In 2023, will be implemented 154 projects financed from external sources, their costs are estimated at 4.5 billion lei. Finance Minister Dumitru Budianschi also said that, as planned, the total public debt of Moldova as of December 31, 2023 will not exceed 122.5 billion lei (+21.4 billion lei compared to the forecast for the end of 2022) and will amount to 39.7% of GDP, which is 3.4 p.p. more than expected at the end of 2022 // 09.12.2022 — InfoMarket
