If the economy only grows by 4%, we
\ncan’t have something grow by 40%, the governor of the National Bank of Romania
\nMugur Isarescu was saying recently, referring to the planned increase in
\npensions as of September 1st. He is not the first to warn that
\nRomania risks entering an area of turbulence if the budget deficit, which has
\nalready exceeded the 3% accepted by the European Union, deepens as a result of
\npopulist measures. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The increase in pensions has been
\nlaid down in law by the former Social Democratic government without being
\njustified economically, the current Liberal government says. The latter has in
\nfact postponed until next summer the doubling of child allowances, another
\npopulist measure taken by the Social Democratic Party, and which was not based
\non a calculation of available resources and had not even been budgeted.
\nHowever, the Liberal government reiterated that this year’s budget has
\nallocated funds for the increase in pensions and child allowances, but
\nemphasised that the decision to increase them will be taken in 6 months’ time,
\nafter an economic assessment. Ludovic Orban:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Our goal is crystal clear, namely
\nto increase the incomes of all Romanians, including private sector salaries,
\npensions and allowances, but underlying this increase must clearly be stable
\neconomic growth, not increases on paper that lead to growing inflation and that
\ncannot be supported in the long run.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The Social Democrats say that in
\nless than three months, Orban’s government has cancelled the economic progress
\nmade earlier, and this can be seen by looking at the numbers. The former Social
\nDemocratic minister for labour Lia Olguta Vasilescu:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
From a deficit of 2.9% we now have
\na deficit of 4%. From a public debt level of 35% we now expect a public debt
\nlevel of 39%. From a 3.4% inflation rate in November we now have a 4.2% inflation
\nrate, while the leu-euro exchange rate has reached an unprecedented level.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
A clash between the National Liberal Party and the
\nSocial Democratic Party is expected in Parliament, where the Orban cabinet will
\nassume collective responsibility for the bill on the return to the two-round system
\nfor the election of mayors. Amendments to the bill may be submitted by the 27th
\nof January, and the bill itself will be debated in Parliament on the 29th.
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
So far, the Social Democratic Party
\nhas reacted only with words to the previous cases in which the government has assumed
\ncollective responsibility, including in the case of the budget bill, but it
\ncannot allow a bill that could damage it significantly in this summer’s local
\nelections go unchallenged. As a result, the Social Democrats have decided to
\ninitiate a motion of no-confidence and expand it from the issue of the
\ntwo-round system for the election of mayors to the overall performance of the
\nOrban cabinet. Supported by the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in
\nRomania, a party that also stands to lose from a possible change of the
\nelection law, the Social Democrats believe in the success of their motion.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pensions and child allowances are the subject of heated debates between the government and the opposition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":83731,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[35664,32366],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-84375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-benefits","tag-pensions"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n