No wage or pension cuts, Romania's FinMin Citu assures

Romania’s Government does not consider the scenario of cutting salaries (in the public sector) or pensions, in the context of the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, finance minister Florin Citu said on Thursday, April 2, for Digi TV channel.

One day earlier, on Wednesday, he said in an interview given to Hotnews.ro that he personally finds appropriate for “the costs of the crisis to be shared [between the private and public sectors]”. After his statement prompted public comments and brought in the spotlight the delicate topic of the inefficient and overpaid public sector, minister Citu ruled out any radical options.

“There are no cuts in salaries and pensions on the agenda,” minister Citu told Digi 24 TV.

Moreover, asked about a possible restructuring of personnel in the budget sector, in the context of some 800,000 workers in the private sector being sent into technical unemployment these days, Florin Citu said that this is not under discussion either.

“No, at this moment we are not looking at a restructuring of the public personnel,” the minister added, admitting however that the budgetary sector is inefficient.

He said that efforts are moving towards resolving the health crisis and spoke about a budget rectification next week to provide funds for health, equipment, medical leave.

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea)