With a budget deficit in the first 3 months of the
\nyear above the government’s estimates, an emergency order designed to help
\nreduce budget expenditure was adopted at the end of last week in Bucharest.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The finance ministry, which drafted the order at the request
\nof PM Nicolae Ciuc\u0103, mainly focused on cutting non-urgent spending. The order
\nsets monthly expenditure ceilings for each ministry, and reduces expenses with
\ngoods and services procurement by 10%, except for those in the public
\nhealthcare and education sectors. The order also freezes hiring in the public
\nsector, with exceptions to be endorsed in separate government memoranda, the
\nfinance minister Adrian C\u00e2ciu explained: <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Adrian C\u00e2ciu: Exams or contests to fill permanent or
\ntemporary vacancies in the public sector will be suspended, except for unique
\npositions. Basically, the various sectors will apply for governmental
\nderogations, in separate memoranda, in case further hiring is necessary,
\nincluding in public healthcare and education. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The decision concerns the nearly 1.3 million posts in
\npublic institutions and authorities in Romania this March, around 64% of them
\nin central public administration, according to data made public by the finance
\nministry. The largest number of people, nearly 300,000, are employed by the
\neducation ministry, another 125,000 by the interior ministry, 72,000 by the
\ndefence ministry, 25,000 by the finance ministry and 19,000 by the health
\nministry. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Adrian C\u00e2ciu also said that the clause concerning a
\nbonus for Ph.D. holders has been scrapped, and new rules in this respect will
\nbe introduced in a future salary law. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The number of jobs in the PM’s office will be cut down
\nto a half, and the same person will no longer be allowed to be a member of the
\nboard of directors of more than 2 public companies. Moreover, public
\ninstitutions will no longer be permitted to purchase cars, furniture and office
\nequipment this year. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The order also introduces a short farm-to-fork chain,
\nreducing the number of intermediate operators between farmers and consumers, in
\nan effort to protect the national agrifood industry. To this end, schools,
\nhospitals and military units will be bound to comply with strict rules
\nconcerning the procurement of Romanian-produced foodstuffs for their cafeterias
\nand mess halls. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
According to the finance ministry, the measures will
\nlead to estimated overall savings of little over EUR 1 bln by the end of this
\nyear. (AMP)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The government of Romania passed an emergency order to reduce budget expenditure<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":91575,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[29547,32738,40897,34586],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-95685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-budget","tag-public","tag-reduced","tag-spending"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n