VIDEO Bolojan details the reform in the administration. “There will be no action on the food ratio” / “We can no longer afford to retire people in full force at 50”
Ilie Bolojan / Photo source: Inquam Photos – George Călin
Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan declared on TVR on Tuesday evening that the package for the administration and the one for economic recovery “cannot be adopted this week” because a vote in the Economic and Social Council is also necessary to go through the entire procedure – “and that requires two or three days more”.
Asked if it is possible to talk about a “peace agreement” between the parties in the coalition after the discussion in Cotroceni, the prime minister said: “It is not a question of a peace agreement. We are facing some decisions that we have to put into practice. The most important one is related to having a realistic budget as soon as possible.”
“This would mean that by the end of next week we should be able to prepare this budget, finalize all discussions related to the main allocations, investment projects, other aspects related to the budget, and in the preparation of the budget, beforehand, it would be good to adopt and we will adopt, I think, for calendar reasons, the package for the administration and the one for economic recovery at the beginning of next week”, added Ilie Bolojan.
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“There will be no action on the food norm”
The Prime Minister believes that “there is no longer a need to harmonize what was agreed” between the parties in the coalition, despite the statements made by some of the members in the public space.
“Yesterday there was a rather long discussion, which was closed during the day today, in which the basic elements of the package for the reform in the administration were agreed. It is true that other aspects were also taken into account yesterday, which relate to the realization of some savings on basic expenses, in such a way that there are fiscal spaces to support investments this year, but, closing all these discussions, including the discussions that were related to the food ratio, they remained in a phase where no action will be taken on the food norm”, said Ilie Bolojan.
He claims that in the case of the food norm, it was only about “an analysis discussion”, made “at the proposal of the Ministry of Finance”.
The leaders of the governing parties agreed that the health system, education and public safety employees would be exempt from the salary cuts and could reduce spending in other ways.
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How will the expenses with salaries be reduced
He said the 10% reduction in salary expenses would be done “taking into account the specifics” of the ministries.
“For example, on the public order and defense components, where at the moment we do not have a surplus of personnel, practically the economy on the salary fund will be made by increasing the retirement age (…). We can no longer afford to retire people in full physical and intellectual strength at 50, 51, 52 years old, given that the generations that retire are made up of 300,000-400,000 Romanians, and those who come to replace them are fewer and fewer”, explained the prime minister.
Ilie Bolojan also specified that “in all the ministries where staff savings were made during the past year and until now through the measures that were taken, these savings will be taken into account, and those that will be made during this year will practically represent the difference up to this 10% quota”.
