The government’s fiscal reforms
The Romanian government is preparing a third package of fiscal measures.
Roxana Vasile, 20.11.2025, 14:00
In a move to reduce the country’s excessive deficit, the coalition government in Bucharest is preparing a third package of fiscal measures that may be adopted next week by assuming responsibility in Parliament. In the local administration, the government aims to either reduce the number of occupied or vacant jobs or to cut personnel expenses by 10%. While in the central administration, it is considering a 10% cut in personnel expenses. T
his third package must be adopted before the adoption of the 2026 budget for the sake of financial discipline, says the Liberal Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan. He explained that the recommendation that all ministries cut their expenses by 10% does not necessarily lead to a cut in salaries:
“On the one hand, all legislation allowing the budget to be created on a sound basis, keeping spending in check and enforcing budget discipline must be adopted in advance. On the other hand, it is difficult to start making exceptions and all of us who are in a public position, all ministries, in one form or another, must be part of this effort. I must emphasize that it’s not about cutting salaries, but about managing their personnel expenses better, stop hiring, look at bonuses and reorganize their activities better.ʺ
The Social Democrats have a different stance on the matter within the ruling coalition. The party on Wednesday decided in no form to support a 10% cut in public sector salaries from January 1st as intended and called for other measures to cut spending than those proposed by the prime minister under the third package. The leader of the Social Democrats, Sorin Grindeanu:
“Estimates indicate that the state would be able to save around 10 billion lei if we made this 10% cut in personnel expenses. Which, obviously, can be saved in other ways and there is no need to cut the salaries of teachers, doctors, police officers, military personnel, or anyone else.”
On the other hand, the bill on the reform of magistrates’ pensions has the support of the entire ruling coalition. The pension system in place makes magistrates a privileged professional category, on account of earning very large pensions and being able to retire earlier. The new bill stipulates that the pension of a judge or prosecutor will no longer exceed 70% of their last net salary and that the retirement age will increase to 65 years, over a 15-year transition period, from January 1, 2026. The bill will next be submitted to the Superior Council of Magistracy for its opinion, before the government can assume responsibility for it in Parliament. Magistrates are also unhappy with this new version of this bill, a first version having recently been rejected by the Constitutional Court for procedural reasons. A milestone in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, the bill on the reform of the magistrates’ pensions system is a condition for the release of European funds that are so necessary in these times of austerity.
