This provision is contained in a draft law on the admission, stay and supervision of foreigners in Moldova. The document was approved today by the National Security, Defense and Public Order Commission and will be submitted to the parliament’s plenary session in the second reading.
Thus, employers will be obliged to ensure that foreigners are paid a salary that cannot be lower than 50 per cent of the forecasted average monthly wage in the economy for the respective year.
The authors note that the measure is aimed at guaranteeing a reasonable minimum income for foreign workers, which will allow them to cover their basic expenses and contribute to their more sustainable integration on the Moldovan labor market. At the same time, the principle of equal treatment is preserved: the wages of foreign workers cannot be lower than those of Moldovan citizens for similar work in the same sector of the economy.
According to the authors, the proposed norms create clearer and more predictable conditions for attracting labor force from abroad, in particular highly qualified specialists and digital nomads.
According to the presented estimates, the economic effect of the introduction of these measures could be significant. In the case of digital nomads, the average annual contribution to the budget of the Republic of Moldova is estimated at approximately 186,000 lei per person through direct and indirect taxes. This includes revenues from rent, VAT on consumption of goods and services, and income tax.
By attracting about 1,500 digital nomads annually, the total positive effect on the state budget could amount to about 280 million lei per year.
In addition, attracting 1,000 highly skilled workers with a gross salary of about MDL 16,100 per month could generate annual tax revenues of about MDL 85 million. Individual contributions include about 46,368 lei to the social insurance fund, 17,388 lei to the compulsory health insurance fund and 21,097 lei of income tax, which confirms the importance of this category of employees for the sustainability of public finances.
