The draft budget of Chisinau municipality for 2015 was Tuesday subject to public debates for being proposed for approval in the second reading. The document provides for total revenues of 2.8 billion lei and an expenditure of 3.2 billion lei. The deficit will be covered with money earned from the sale and privatization of public property and from foreign sources, IPN reports.

The Finance Division’s head Veronica Herta said the budget for this year is a social one and the largest amounts will be allocated to education, culture and health, as usual – 1.8 billion lei overall.

The municipality plans to accumulate the largest incomes from the salary income tax, the tax for using the roads, the tax on the property of economic entities and the property of private individuals.

The local taxes will remain at the level of 2014. But the road tax for vehicles registered in Moldova will be raised by 50%. This will lead to an increase of 48.9 million lei in revenues.

The economic entities running gambling businesses will also have to pay a tax on commercial units. There are now 82 such entities that work without authorization and do not pay taxes. “We consider we have a legislative gap as the given companies do not pay the local tax, but can anyway get a license to work and this is a problem,” stated Veronica Herta.

Asked if the municipality will cope with the expenditure that may rise following the depreciation of the national currency, Veronica Herta said they could cut some costs or would apply for bank loans.