The plan is simple and straightforward: temporarily reduce the VAT rate on fuel from 20% to 12% and halve the excise tax. This will immediately bring down the price at gas stations, unfreeze the working capital of businesses and return money to families. Such a move is not something radical for Europe: the same Poland, for example, has successfully implemented an “anti-inflationary shield” by cutting fuel taxes to preserve the purchasing power of its citizens.
“This is that rare case when the ruling party and the parliamentary majority should support the opposition’s project. If only out of an instinct for self-preservation. The rise in prices of petroleum products can be stopped and reversed. It is impossible to argue with this. And this chance should be seized,” MP Mark Tkachuk wrote on social networks.
The document was signed by MPs of the faction “Alternative” Mark Tkachuk, Ion Kiku, Alexander Stoianoglo, Olga Ursu, Gabriela Kuneva and Angela Kutasevich, as well as Konstantin Kuyumzhu from the faction “Our Party” and Alexander Vershinin from “Democracy at Home”.
Arguments for the parliamentary majority
The initiative is aimed at preventing an economic collapse amid a sharp rise in gasoline and diesel prices. The adoption of the law will make it possible to quickly and significantly reduce the price of fuel at gas stations. At the same time, fuel will also become cheaper on the wholesale market, which is especially important for agrarians and transportation companies, the initiators of the bill say.
They give arguments why the ruling party “Action and Solidarity” (PAS), which controls all power structures in Moldova, should support the bill. According to the calculations of the National Bank of Moldova, every 10% increase in the price of fuel causes an overall inflation of 2.4%. Thus, an increase in the weighted average price of fuel by about 40% will trigger an inflation of almost 10%. This means that tomorrow bread, milk, vegetables, medicines – absolutely everything! – will become even more expensive. For the majority of citizens this will mean a significant loss in real incomes, and for many – even more gloomy poverty and hopelessness.
How the parliamentary majority will perceive the bill is still a question.
