State Country Report 2016: Moldova is facing unprecedented social and economic threats

Anemic economic growth, major failures of governance, public distrust in state institutions, need to reform the model of political economy, reform of the financial sector, are the main constraints aggravating the socio-economic situation of the country. About this communicated on Friday, September 30, 2016 MACRO conference participants.

The fourth edition of the annual international conference MACRO has gathered experts from five countries, social partners, leaders and policy makers, representatives of business and local government.

They discussed a wide range of subjects related to the situation in the banking sector, labour market and social welfare, education and human capital, energy efficiency, internal and foreign policy of the state.

Independent Analytical Centre Expert Group, in partnership with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, conference organizers, notes in the State Country Report for 2016, which was presented at the event, that Moldova is facing one of the most acute and complex crises in history.

According to Adrian Lupuşor, executive director of the Independent Analytical Center Expert Group, after the economic, currency and banking shock in the years 2015-2016, Moldova has become more vulnerable than ever, entering a period of sluggish growth that could last at least 5 years.

Ana Mihailov, program coordinator of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Foundation in Moldova, said that the report identifies a number of solutions to the economic, financial and social crisis and stressed the need to minimize the risks that could lead to increasing poverty level of population and accelerate migration processes.

In this context, Sergiu Sainciuc, vice president of the National Trade Union Confederation of Moldova, emphasized the importance of enhancing socio-economic protection of employees by implementing reforms in the system of remuneration and motivation of labour, so that the income level of the population to ensure them a decent living.

“Although trade unions have repeatedly insisted they should perform a gradual increase in the minimum wage, this process develops slowly. Researches I have considered show that salary is the main source of income for most people. But in Moldova, there are still several levels of pay, which leads to situations that endanger the very concept of decent work”, said Sergiu Sainciuc.

The authors of the State Country Report 2016 also underlines the need for revolutionizing the system of governing the country by implementing reforms that would lead to overcoming social and economic crisis and the country’s sustainable development, and this can be achieved by increasing foreign investment, substantial reductions of the level of corruption, increasing the efficiency of state institutions and public confidence in them, the implementation of reforms in education, in line with the actual needs of the labour market and technological changes taking place globally.

We note that the State Country Report 2016 is a document that analyses the main trends and risks of development of the country in the most important areas: economy, employment, human capital, energy, domestic and foreign policy, the environment and the retirement system.