OREANDA-NEWS. December 22, 2009. As the Minister of Economy Valeriu Lazar has announced, the law on the Budget-2010 is misbalanced and in the first quarter of 2010 the government intends to amend it. At the same time, Lazar noted that in 2010 the tariffs for gas and electricity will increase.

"We expect hard winter," said the Minister during the round table "Economic Lessons of 2009: projections for 2010", organized by the Independent Expert-Analytical Center Group. The Minister expressed certainty that in these difficult conditions Moldova will be able to preserve the upward trend in the first months of the year and to achieve a modest growth by the end. Prerequisites for this are already present as the country has registered some economic refreshment-, the minister said.

He also noted that although politics should not influence economics, the biggest challenge for 2010 will be perpetuation of the political crisis. He noted that early elections are a bad option, which scares local and foreign investors. Valeriu Lazar mentioned that in 2010 the present government should not repeat the mistake of the former authorities- to ignore reality. In his turn, the executive director of the independent analytical center Expert Group Valeriu Prohnitschii said that although the global financial crisis has affected the economy, in 2009 the Moldovan economy fell victim to the political irresponsibility.

At the same time, 2009 has shown that political elites had great temptation to use public resources in their election interests, the key institutions do not work and thus the new government took over the directing hand in the economy. Finally, in 2010, the authorities should continue to stimulate consumption, avoid political influence on the economy and limit dependence on the external factors.

"The Moldovan economy is too open and too dependent on the external factors," said Prohnitschii. At the same time, the expert mentioned necessity for more effective coordination between policies of the Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Finance and the National Bank of Moldova.