Chicu: Prima Casa Beneficiaries Risk Losing Their Homes

5.35 percentage points increase of interest rate on Prima Casa loans may leave the beneficiaries of the program without the acquired housing, while the state will have to pay a guarantee of 50% of housing cost to banks. This was stated by former Prime Minister Ion Chicu, who criticized the intentions of the authorities, reports realitatea.md. Chicu states that henceforth the beneficiaries of this program will have to pay a monthly interest rate of 5.35% more. “Today I have to report the real tragedy that more than 8 thousand families and beneficiaries of the state program Prima Casa are now facing. I have personally made great efforts to ensure that this program aimed at keeping young people in the country develops as it solves one of the most acute problems facing young families in Moldova – lack of housing. As far as we know, the idea of the program is that the state helps young beneficiaries both at the stage of housing purchase and at the stage of the mortgage repayment. All these families are now at risk of becoming homeless followed by inevitable departure from the country,” said Chicu. In this regard, the former Prime Minister asked current Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita to take the issue “seriously”. “Take this issue seriously. If we lose these people, you will be to blame. Not the National Bank or the international context. I suggest you take the following real action to help these 8,000 families. Urgently review the bank margin that you completely unreasonably increased on 12/29/2022. Make changes to the Program Beneficiary Compensation Regulations. Reconsider the inadequate monetary policy you are imposing on the National Bank to raise the prime rate. The failure of the Prima Casa program is not just about losing these people – it is a luxury the country can no longer afford. It is also about the ultimate loss of people’s confidence in this state, because the program was launched by the state and people believed in this state,” Chicu concluded. Recall that at the Government meeting on June 29, Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita asked the Ministry of Economy to find solutions as soon as possible, so that the beneficiaries of the Prima Casa program could overcome the economic shock more easily. In response, Minister of Economy Sergiu Gaibu said that he had “already initiated discussions with the National Bank and other banks on this issue”.