The salary law enters the straight line: the Government calculates the budgetary impact of the increases to avoid fiscal imbalances
The budget workers' salary law enters the final phase of negotiation, with the Government going to set the level of increases so that they remain sustainable and do not affect the deficit target.
The salary law, near the end Photo: archive, the truth
The executive is trying to establish an amount that will be “predictable” and sustainable, so that it does not put additional pressure on the state budget and does not affect Romania's fiscal credibility in front of international financiers.
The Minister of Finance, Alexandru Nazare, declared on Monday evening, after the Government meeting, that the wage reform is one “very important”, however, it must be approached with caution, in order to avoid the repetition of past situations, when other laws with a major budgetary impact generated imbalances.
“What we must do regarding the Salary Law is not to repeat the lesson that Romania received when it adopted the Pensions Law, when it adopted a Pensions Law that was not sustainable, with increases that were not sustainable, that could not be supported by the state budget and that materialized in an increase in the deficit that brought us to the situation of last year,” said the minister, quoted by Agerpres.
He also drew attention to the future financial context, emphasizing that 2027 will be a difficult year, given that Romania will no longer benefit from grants from the PNRR, and the volume of European funds could be reduced.
“We are in discussions to establish a bearable and predictable level of salary expenses, so as not to jeopardize the process of fiscal-budgetary consolidation and the target of reducing the deficit to 5.1%”, Nazare explained.
Asked if the budgetary impact of the increases could be between 5 and 10 billion lei, the minister avoided confirming an exact amount, stating only that the negotiations are close to completion.
“I wouldn't want to give a final amount, but we're somewhere in that range and we're trying to set a level that doesn't send negative signals to markets and financiers,” the Minister of Finance also said.
