If we do not cut wages, we'll need a new loan in 2011
President Traian Basescu explained yesterday after the meeting
with the unions why the wage cut step had been taken: If it does
not happen, we would have to take another loan in 2011 and Romania
is already paying 10 billion euros on foreign debt as it is this
year. Basescu remained firm in his position: all wages will be cut
by the same percentage.
This seems to be the option accepted by the IMF. Jeffrey Franks,
the head of the IMF mission, however, wanted to make it clear that
it came from the Romanian party.
The unions announced after the meeting with the chief of state at
the Cotroceni Palace yesterday that they would not drop the
protests announced, with the schedule to be set this week.
Opposition parties, PNL (National Liberal Party) and PSD (Social
Democratic-Party), which received a visit from the IMF delegation,
too, announced they continued to disagree with the step to cut
public sector wages by 25%, and pensions and unemployment benefits
by 15%. The government may have some trouble getting the measure
approved by the Parliament, because it has to be endorsed via a law
draft or an emergency ordinance, which, however, has to be approved
by the Parliament, too.