Recalculation of first 25,000 special military pensions sees Government spending up instead of down

Ziarul Financiar 20.01.2011

By recalculating the 25,000 military pensions, the Government spends 8% more than it did before the recalculation, according to ZF calculations.
So, whilst before the recalculation of the 25,000 military pensions the Government spent 49.08 million RON per month (11.7 million euros/month), and after the recalculation spending amounted to 52.83 million RON (12.6 million euros) per month for the payment of the same pensions, what results is an 8% increase.
Overall, considering that the 25,000 military pensioners account for a third of the 76,000 pensioners whose military pensions need to be recalculated - considering the value of the same average pension - the Government's overall annual spending would amount to 1.94 billion RON (461 million euros), up by nearly 150 million RON (35.7 million euros) on what the Government spent prior to the recalculation (1.8 billion RON, i.e. 428 million euros).
Therefore, the Government will pay nearly 150 million RON more in total after the recalculation of the special pensions, which are separate from those of the 76,000 pensioners of the Interior Ministry, who include pensioners from secret services.
"When the Government first discussed the recalculation of military pensions, the most important aspect was to follow the principle of contribution. I don't know if savings for the state budget were targeted, I don't recall figures regarding the budgetary impact of this measure," said deputy Marian Sârbu, who was labour minister from the PSD (Social Democratic Party) in 2009.