Paper/Speech Details of Conference Program for the 15th NISPAcee Annual Conference Program Overview V. Working Group on Public Sector Finance and Accounting Author(s) Eugenia Busmachiu Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova Chisinau Republic of Moldova Title Local government finance in the Republic of Moldova: theory and practice File Paper files are available only for conference participants, please login first. Presenter Abstract This paper investigates the development of local public finance in the Republic of Moldova. In the Republic of Moldova and in several European countries and a large number of municipalities suffer from fiscal stress due to various reasons: municipal finance through public debt, local fees, profits from municipal enterprises, sales of property has already reached natural or institutional limits. The fiscal autonomy of municipalities is weakening rapidly as municipal expenditures rise while revenues decrease. Adapting the system of intergovernmental fiscal relations to the new circumstances is a challenge. The allocation of tasks and the distribution of financial resources between the tiers of government is particularly important. Local finance is more directly related to the vertical fiscal equalization between states and respective municipalities. Therefore, fiscal autonomy is strongly influenced by the rules concerning the grant systems that prevail in European countries and by the extent to which public expenditures can be shifted from higher level jurisdictions to municipalities without providing sufficient financial means.
